Eyes of the first, Heart of the Second
by Rola G
Summary: "There's just one more thing I need to say to you. You don't ever have to forgive me, just know whatever decision you decide, I'll love you always" He was suppose to go back to the after life, however, fate seemed to believe he was the one who could change the world the way it should be. Time-travel, might be pairings later on.
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys

I had been reading a lot of Itachi fanfiction and felt that I want to write a little story about him as well

I don't own Naruto

Critics please critique

* * *

Chapter 1

"There's just one more thing I need to say to you. You don't ever have to forgive me, just know whatever decision you decide, I'll love you always" bringing his forehead close to touch Sasuke's forehead. His brother's eyes had one of shock, but sadness knowing that he'll be alone once again. 'Naruto, I place my trust in you' was his last thought as the reanimation finally canceled, sending himself back to the nether life.

* * *

His conscious seemed to be stirring. Opening his eyes, he quickly closed them again as the glare was causing them to be sensitive. 'What's going on' he thought as he slowing opened his eyes again and looked around; everywhere looked to be surrounded by white, like being stopped in a flow of time.

"So you have finally decided to join me" came a voice behind him. Turing his head slowly, he saw an old man with pale-skin and wrinkles. Spiky, shoulder-length, white hair, with a chin-length braid hanging in front of his left ear. He sports a goatee that's down to his waist. He has horn-like protrusions on his forehead, but what stood really from all that was the Rinnegan eyes, and lacked eyebrows, along with a Rinnegan marking in the centre of his forehead. His palms showed a light-coloured circle representing Yang in his right palm, and a dark-coloured crescent moon representing Yin in his left palm.

"My name is Hagoromo Otsutsuki, and you're quite an interesting young man" the man named Hagoromo said.

"…..The six sage", Itachi said it not as a question, but merely fact.

"Well, I suppose that's one of my nicknames, but I'm not here to talk about myself, I brought you here to give you a proposal" he said.

"…." Itachi just remained quite as he sorted the information in his head. He is dead, and yet he seems to be in an area where time has no effect. The sage said he has a proposal, but could he think he could do at this point?

"I know what you're thinking, but I can make you capable of fixing things so this situation doesn't happen again. You're interesting because even though you a descendant of my first son, your personality and strength derives from my second son. As you know of the Senju and Uchiha rivals, they are decendants from my first and second son, being Senju as my second son, and Uchiha being my first son. My first believed power was the key to peace, but my second son believed love was the key to peace. On my death bed I picked my second son to be my successor. My first, filled with bitterness and envy, did not acknowledge him and they were at a constant battle between each other, which eventually became the Senju and the Uchiha's. The first time my son's reincarnated was through Hashirama and Madara, and now I believe it's happed again through your brother and his friend. The fight and the history just keeps going, they start liking each other, just to fight in the end." He said with sadness in his eyes.

"What does that have to do with me?" Itachi spoke in an emotionless, controlled voice.

"If you could go back and change your choices, would you? Or should you is the question, because I feel that you believing in both power and love can truly help save this shinobi world, and help find a way to destroy the cycle of hatred."

The question caught him a bit off guard, but he already knows he would; every decision, even if he was considered a prodigy, had been a mistake, and all he could do now was leave it in the hands of Naruto.

"If you're willing, I'll send you back through time before you became a genin in order to give you time on how to fix the situation. Even if this war is finished, there still will be a great deal of loss for the sake of bringing peace."

Itachi knows what he would decide, even with all of the suffering of growing up early, of becoming a shinobi as a kid, killing at age 11, killing his family to prevent a war within his home, becoming a criminal, dying at the hands of his brother, brining brought back to life as a tool, he knows what his decision is.

"I accept" there was no hesitation in his voice.

"Very well then, come over here" He said.

Itachi came to where the sage was, "hold out your hands", Itachi held his hands and the sage put his palms on top of his.

"I shall give my power for you to hold on to, you aren't a incarnation of either of my sons so you won't be able to use it, but once you deem a situation worthy and you deem either your brother or his friend acceptable, you can give these to them" what was placed were the yin and yang signatures on his hands.

"Only you will be able to see it, now close your eyes" Itachi shut them. He began to glow once again.

"You will be sent sometime during your time at the academy, my only words left to you are good luck; there will not be a second chance" was all he heard before his conscious faded away.

* * *

Waking up suddenly, he could feel the sweat on his forehead. Wiping it away, it suddenly dawned onto him that his hands were small. He got out of bed, and walked to the washroom to get a look at his face; his face looked like a kid. Testing it out, he activated his sharingan; the mangekyo was still fully there with perfect vision. He started to feel the strain and turned it off. It seemed to him that he was still capable of using his abilities due to the memories and spiritual side of his chakra, however, since his body was that of a child's his physical half was lacking.

Crying could be heard from the other room, and he quickly went to it. His heart nearly jumped at what he saw; baby Sasuke in a crib, crying like any baby. He gently went to pick him up, and quietly put him in his arms. Sasuke immediately stopped, and opened his eyes; they innocently were looking at Itachi.

"ahhh" Sasuke gurgled as he stretched his arm and grabbed Itachi's nose.

Thinking about his brother before the reanimation stopped, and then the Sasuke grabbing his nose now made the whole thing hilarious to Itachi.

"Seems he quieted down, he's already attached to you Itachi-chan" said a voice he hadn't heard in nearly a decade. Turning his head, he saw his mom in her night gown; his heart twisted with realization that she was alive.

"Itachi-chan, what's wrong? Why are you crying?" his mom asked.

Crying? He didn't think he was crying as he brought a hand to his face; he felt the wetness in his hands. The last time he cried was when he finished killing off his clan, and Sasuke threw a kunai at him.

He was jolted out of his thoughts as a hand was wiping his eyes away, and then held his left cheek. His mom was always a gentle nature and it just calmed him down.

"….Gomen, I woke up and heard Sasuke cry" Itachi said lamely. He didn't remember much of how he acted as a kid, but figured he showed more emotion than he was used to.

"He just feels calm with you, always looking out for him, its funny how he'll be 1 next month" was all she said.

"Ah"

"Why don't you let him sleep with you tonight Itach-chan, don't worry I won't say a word to your dad" said his mom

"Hai" and with that he returned to his room with Sasuke in hand.

* * *

Sasuke was asleep before lying him down on his bed. He got in on the left and held Sasuke close. It had happened he was back in the past, and since Sasuke was almost 1 it meant in a few months he'd graduate into a genin. He needed to remember more and figure out what to do, but tonight he was content that there was a chance not just for the future, but perhaps for the clan as well. Perhaps he could find a way to convince his dad not to deal with the coup, and if not he'll make sure to let Sasuke know this time if it turns out to be repeating itself again. 'This time I won't treat you like a child, if I can't change the clan, then I know you will be able to' thought Itachi, and also, he'll make sure Sasuke grows up to be attached to the village as well.

Looking at his hands, he realized it wasn't just Sasuke he needed to look out for. 'Naruto, I promise later on I'll introduce you to my brother and make sure you're not alone this time'

* * *

Well I feel it was a bit rushed this chapter, but can't decide on what

anyway hope the first chapter was enjoyable

another note is that this is not my main focus, the other two, especially the Unexpected survivor are the ones i'm truly focused on writing so this story won't really be consistent on updates like the other two on a weekly basis. I will do my best to not take too long on writing them though.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello

Man I'm finding this story so hard to write about, I really got to do more research on Itachi to understand his mind frame.

Making him go through life with be a invention since it's only explained in brief moments during his explanation in the anime.

Anyway here's chapter 2 hope you enjoy

Do not own Naruto

* * *

Chapter 2

"That's all for today's class, on another note, although I think it's too early, if you wish to take the genin exam, it will be held in two months' time. It consists of a written portion, taijustu, and the 3 standard ninjustu: clones, henge, and replacement." Istu sensei said to his students.

Itachi learned that he would turn 7 in two weeks, and was debating whether to take the exam or not. Last time he took it in order to find ways to fix the problems in the future, but now that he was from it he wanted to first deal with preventing another coup and keeping his family alive; he wouldn't hurt his brother a second time. He had looked for his cousin Shisui, who was five years older than him, that morning. If he remembered correctly Shisui would be rank chunin, only joining anbu after Itachi himself became a chunin. He wished to talk to him in order to decide whether to take the exam or not.

When he awoke this morning, more and more his heart constrained as he saw his family alive. No matter what he had become in the future, he was always a kind person. His dad looked less stern since he was still at the academy, and his mother was just smiling. The hatred hadn't fully built up yet; it hadn't been even a year since the kyubi attacked. He figured saying good things about the village might help a bit, but even then he didn't know how to handle it. 'Maybe being a bit more emotional the way both Naruto and Shisui were might get them to listen to me this time'. He didn't know where Naruto would be located this time even if he did want to find him; Naruto was 3 months younger than Sasuke.

While walking, he looked around; it's been nearly a decade since he could freely walk and see village within. The village was still in repairs due to the bujis attack 8 months ago, and there barley seemed to be any shinobi in the village; he guessed due to the low amount they were being worked over time.

As he neared the Uchiha district, he felt a presence from behind. He quickly threw his blunted kunai and heard a clank.

"Well now, is that some kind of greeting to your favourite cousin" the person coming out behind the tree said.

"…Shisui" Itachi had a look of utmost bewilderment on his face.

"Hey, what's gotten in to you, you'd think you've seen a ghost or something" Shisui began waving his hands in front of Itachi's face.

Shaking his head, he put a smile on his face, "Sorry, it's just I was looking for you, then you appear all of a sudden."

"Oho, now that's rare, what would you like to talk about?" Shisui asked while leaning on the tree.

Itachi himself went to sit on a rock close by, "sensei is allowing us to take the genin graduation in two months. I'm not quite sure if I should take them or not."

Shisui just raised his eyebrows at that. He could tell just by how Itachi asks and speaks that he was very mature for his age, add to the fact that he didn't have any friends besides him (and he was five years older) showed he wasn't mentally the same thought frame as his classmates.

"I think you should take the exam, I'll even help you prepare for it if you're nervous. You are far more mature for your age and should hang out with those that have the same mind frame. Besides once you become genin the missions are more like chores; it's chunin when things get tougher" Shisui finally said.

Itachi listened, and thought it through: while it was true that no real danger would occur as a genin, there was a chance that he would be pushed because of being talented.

"Thanks Shisui, I'll try for it" Itachi stated after deciding it was worth a shot.

"No worries my cousin, but would you like me to help you?" Shisui asked while messing Itachi's hair.

Nodding his head as he shook off Shisuis hand; he decided that he would be a bit more emotional and try to state Kohona in a better light to his family.

"Well I have time now, let's go to the training grounds" and with that, he started to pull Itachi by the hand. Itachi would have been trying to get free, except he couldn't help but be happy to see his once best friend alive.

* * *

"I don't see what you're so worried about, you should be able to pass the exam with flying colors" Shisui said. They had been training for close to two hours; Shisui started him on the ninjustu to see if he could do them. Once it had been confirmed that he could, Shisui started immediately on the taijustu. Itachi couldn't help but enjoy himself; all of his fights for the past 9 years or so had been serious that, as much as he tried, he couldn't keep the smile off his face the whole time. Shisui seemed fine while he himself was out of breath; probably due to being in a child's body.

"Let's get ourselves back to the compound and freshen up; I think your moms going to kill me for getting you dirty" Shisui said with a smile.

Itachi had been debating something with himself on how much trust he should place on his cousin; he didn't want to reveal to his family of his strength, but thought since Shisui tried to help him in the past he might be able to keep a secret.

"Shisui, there's something I wish to tell you, but I first want you to give your word that you won't say anything to anyone" Itachi decided it was worth a try, remembering his own words to Naruto:

" _However strong you become, never seek to bear everything alone. If you do, failure is certain."_

"Secret huh, well so long as it isn't something illegal I suppose I can" Shisui stated, seeming to find it a little amusing.

'I guess it does seem funny since I'm only six years old right now' Itachi slightly grimaced, but there was no way he was going to go back on his choice and activated his eyes.

"…The sharingan" Shisui looked shocked; what he was seeing was the sharingan with three tomoes in each eye.

"I don't want anyone to know, I feel that there's some kind of distance between our clan and the village" he tried to give a confused face, but he seemed to find it a little hard to act with emotions.

"…You're far more perceptive than most for your age, but I guess it can't be helped when you've seen war at a young age. I'll keep your secret for now, but we need to talk soon, perhaps tomorrow since the day after I need to report for a mission" Shisui said, all good humor now gone and left with a serious expression.

I nodded as we finally entered the compound. Shisui stated his farewell as I entered home to see Kaa-san cooking dinner; I still was having a hard time believing that the whole clan was alive.

She was humming as she cooked; Sasuke seemed to be trying to walk by holding onto the edges of the table.

"I'm home" I stated suddenly realizing how true it sounded with a natural smile appearing on my face.

"Welcome home Itachi-chan, go clean up while I get dinner ready" kaa-san greeted me seeing how dirty I looked.

"Chi" baby Sasuke said as he tried to come to me without support, his legs about to give out.

"Whoa there" I said, catching him and placing him on the ground before poking him in the head. Once I placed him back to where the table was, I went upstairs to take a shower.

As I showered, I began to let my mind organize itself. Deciding it was better to take the genin exam early, if only to make him a ninja with benefits to access information. He also decided that since Shisui was on his side last time its best to trust him again, although, he'll wait until later to reveal his other sharingan (how in the world would he explain how he got it if he hasn't technically lost anyone yet). He also believes its best to hide his sharingan until he can confirm if he can prevent the hatred manifesting within his clan; he hopes talking about the village will be enough.

'I will try to explain what I can tomorrow and see how Shisui and I can stop the coup, if anything we could use his sharingan to make them believe that they will protect kohona.'

Now finished his shower, he dried himself off and took a good look in the mirror; he looked like a kid, but anyone who takes a good look in his eyes could tell that there was a deep sorrow and struggle. Shaking his head, he put his clothe on and head downstairs. The scene was surreal; both parents sitting and conversing, while baby Sasuke trying to eat the food his mom placed in his mouth.

'This is what I wish to protect, this is what I _will_ protect', he thought to himself. This time he'll keep both his family, and the village, safe. This time he'll try to get help instead of bearing everything himself.

* * *

Well there's that, like I said it was hard to write.

On another note I'm both surprised and pleased to see how only after one chapter so many people wish to follow and even call this there favorite.

I'll accept the challenge of writing this story and hopefully I don't pull my hair off before I complete it.

Cheers


	3. Chapter 3

Hey guys, I am a bit early for the posting, but since I'm probably going to be sleeping for most of the day I decided to post early.

I'm going to be adding a bit of time-skips starting the next chapter.

Let me know how this chapter feels so I know what to work with in terms of planning for the next chapter.

Here's chapter 3

I don't own Naruto.

* * *

Chapter 3

It has been a week since he had returned to the past. Classes were to be expected since he was the top in the past, and his father showed the pride that Itachi hoped was because he was proud of him and not for the plans in the future. Sasuke has started walking all on his own, although, the only words he seemed to be able to say are "K-sa" and "Ichi". He was trying to spend whatever time he was free with him in order to start building that strong bond. His mom seemed unsure how to react to him sometimes, but she always had that genuine simile on her face.

Shisui hadn't talked to him after that day; he seemed to have been called back for an unexpected mission with unknown date of completion.

Itachi had spent a good set of time on one of the empty training grounds to see what skills he still had. He remembered everything (finishing whatever homework given during lunch), thus mentally he knew he could do the skills he had, but physically his body couldn't keep up. He still had near perfect taijustu, but because he was now in the body of a child his stamina needed to get back on par. He had decided to first work on that and had been working on his chakra control. Walking a few distances from one of the trees, he ran towards it, then upwards. About 25 feet up, his foot repelled and he landed back on the ground. It seemed that his spiritual energy wasn't fully sync with his physical energy. 'At least I now have something to start with' he thought as he ran up to the tree again. He had just reached the top by the time the sun had fully set. He was panting, and covered in sweat, but felt satisfied that one part was completed. Slowly climbing back down, he tried to chakra walk down. About halfway he slipped and grabbed one of the branches before landing on his feet. His feet gave out and he went into a sitting position. 'I guess I was more tired than I thought' he thought as he slowly got back on his feet and started walking back home. The rest of the week was like that. He planned on doing water walking for the second week.

* * *

Mikoko Uchiha was a kind woman who truly loved her family. After the loss of her best friend, and anger that she couldn't take in her god son like the will Kushina left behind had said, she hoped that her younger son will be friends with the boy regardless.

Last week if you asked her about her sons, she said she would know all there was about them, but just last week Itachi started to act strange. He seemed shaken to see her when he had awoken in the middle of the night, even cry. Itachi has not cried since he was even younger than Sasuke. This whole week whenever she looked at him he seemed either in thought, or when he would have eye contact with her, she thought she was looking at someone who had suffered severely. He was slightly more reserved, and always wanted to spend time with Sasuke, although, that was the only thing she didn't find odd.

It was past 9 now and Itachi still wasn't home. This was unusual since he usually comes home before sunset unless he's required from the sensei's for anything. She had asked her husband if perhaps they should do a search, but he just said he may be running late and he would talk to him about informing them when the boy got home.

She heard the door open suddenly, heard the "I'm home" knowing that Itachi was finally back, and saw him walk into the kitchen. He looked like he was struggling to walk and appeared dirty.

"Where were you young man?" She had an idea of what he was doing, but that still wasn't an excuse to not say anything.

Itachi suddenly stiffened, and looked up with slight wide eyes. He seemed surprised for some reason, but it suddenly went to him being calm with a little smile at the corner of his mouth.

"Gomen, I was training and had lost track of time" he said.

She thought that was what he was doing, but why did it requires him to train so strenuous; what was that academy teaching them that required such training.

Fugaku Uchiha just narrowed his eyes and asked what she had wanted to ask, "While that's fine, what sort of training were you doing that require you to hardly be able to walk on your feet son?"

As Itachi sat down, Mikoto saw that he was contemplating on telling them, of why she couldn't be certain.

"…I'm going to try the genin exam that will take place in two months."

That just brought Fugaku's eyebrows to raise, "The genin exam? Well that now tells me of why the hard training. You've barely been in the academy for more than a year, but I guess it's no surprise, that's my boy after all".

She didn't know what to think; Mikoto knew her son was talented, the top of his class, but wasn't it soon for him to become a genin. She knew of a few that graduated early such as Hatake Kakashi and Kushina's husband, but she didn't think kids that young should become ninja that young for their innocence.

Still, she knew that her son had no friends of his class, and might be able to build a few friends if he succeeds in becoming a genin.

"I don't mind you training Itachi-chan, but please don't come this late. Tell us if you'll be training, and be home before dinner time", she tried to say in a strained voice, "I think you shouldn't rush it, but if you feel that you can handle it then good luck".

Again, Itachi looked surprised, but he had nodded his head and ate what was left over from dinner; miso soup and fried rice chicken.

She decided that she'll talk to Fugaku about Itachi tonight; she didn't want him to become those emotionless ninja.

* * *

When he got home, the first thing he was surprised with was the scolding he got from his mom. It wasn't the scolding itself that startled him, but the fact that someone cared to wait for him and know where he was. It had been a long time since he needed to ask permission or even tell anyone where he was; even when he went rouge he just had orders and that was it. Kisame was probably the closest one to actually care before the truth got out and he became reanimated.

His father seemed more impressed with his excuse for training than the fact he was late, but that was to be expected; his dad had lots of pride in his clan.

He was currently in Sasuke's room, watching him sleep as he let his mind wander on certain things; how was he going to show a positive appearance to Konoha towards his clan and a positive appearance to his clan towards Konoha.

"Well your certainly looking very serious in thought, did someone die" came the all too familiar joking voice.

Smiling, he turned his face towards the intruder, "you could afford to be quiet, Sasuke just fell asleep".

Shisui just looked at the crib, realizing that indeed he shouldn't have been too loud.

"Sorry, but would you like to talk on the front porch or something, I still need to talk to you about last week" Shisui made a movement with his hand as he opened the door.

Itachi just got up, looked to make sure his brother was asleep, and followed Shisui.

As he followed him out onto the front porch, it occurred to Itachi that Shisui was walking with a light arch in his back and He saw a few white bandages wrapped around his left tricep.

"Shisui, are you injured?" Itachi saw Shisui tense, but didn't stop in his movement.

"Just a few minor cuts, my back took quite a beating though so it's still sore. I'm off duty for a few days so that will give me some time to recover properly" they were now sitting down the porch, Shisui being cautious of how he leaned on the wooden planks.

"Okay, so how are school, your brother, and family? You still plan on taking the genin exam?" Shisui asked. Itachi could tell that he was just stalling before he got to the real conversion. He decided to humor him though, if it would help him relax.

"I'm top of the class. Sasuke can now walk on his own, although, he still cannot form proper words yet. Family was surprised that I wish to take the genin exam. Tou-san seemed to be pleased, but kaa-san looked uneasy even though she said she'd support me."

"Ah, well that's good, perhaps that would make them more relaxed later on" Shisui seemed please.

"…What is it you wish to speak to me about that couldn't wait in the morning?" Itachi decided it was best to get the conversation going.

Shisui grimaced, "Itachi, last week you said you felt as if our clan was like a distant part of Konoha, well the truth is what you feel is quite accurate. Ever since the attack on the village by the kyubi, the council seems to mistrust the Uchiha clan. There's one man in particular that probably wants to wipe out the clan all together, but the third hokage is kind and reasonable as ever to keep things peaceful. I actually am trying to get into anbu to get in good graces with the third so they can start trusting us again, but if the clan refuses to cooperate then the hatred may keep growing. I know you're only six, but like I said you're quite mature for your age, and I believe perhaps you can help me."

Itachi for his part was more surprised than the act he was going to place on his face; not even in the past did he know that Shisui already wanted to try to work to help the clan and Konoha come together. His will of fire was even more powerful than what he perceived.

"What can I do to help?" Itachi found himself asking before he could think about it.

"For starters, become a ninja. Afterwards we'll try to help the family." Shisui explained.

Itachi here knew that wouldn't be enough since in his previous life it didn't help, but he could not deny being a ninja as soon as possible had to be done. He nodded.

"Good, now I will not say it out loud, but why do you want to keep it a secret?" Itachi didn't have to even ask to know what Shisui was talking about.

"You said the hatred is starting to grow between the clan and the village elders, what do you think the clan would have me do if they knew my secret, or what anyone who gets me as a genin would do?"

Shisui looked like he was thinking it over then appeared to come to a conclusion, "the clan perhaps would use you to spy, and the sensei would probably just brag. The elders would use you as much as a spy as the clan. Well I guess since as genin you won't really be doing anything dangerous it should be fine to downplay your skills, at least until you become chunin. I will keep your secret for you, but if it's okay with you, I wouldn't mind sparing with it activated. I have a feeling you would do better than our previous one" He had a smile on his face as if he couldn't wait.

Showing a simile of his own, he got up and gave a brief nod to his cousin. Shisui as well got up, ruffled his younger cousin's hair, and then vanished.

Itachi made his way back to where Sasuke's room was; the house remained quiet. Once he entered the room, he could briefly make of Sasuke's light snoring. Itachi very lightly poked his brother's forehead while moving a strand of hair away.

'Shisui, I will try my best as I can to get my family to create bonds with the village.'

* * *

And there we go, I know it's a lot of talking, but it needs to be done so things can make sense from onward.

Let me know what you think of it.

Next chapter might be a bit more amusing.

Cheers


	4. Chapter 4

Hey guys

Chapters a bit longer than usual, but whatever I think it's a good explainer

Anyway enjoy the chapter

I don't own Naruto

* * *

Chapter 4

Two months have gone by without any incidents. Itachi's birthday was a quiet one with just his parents and Shisui. Shisui beforehand asked what he wished and Itachi had asked for a pair of weights; as long as he wasn't using his sharingan and his stamina needed work, the weights would benefit him. Sasuke had been able to say a full "Itachi" "Kaa-san" and "Tou-san" along with a few other words. His father decided to teach him the fire ball justu, saying once this justu is mastered then he would be seen as an adult. He just taught him the hand signs for later for the two to practice. Itachi didn't have full control of his chakra yet so he only managed to create less than half of his fathers, which was fine by him. His mom just got him first aid since he looked to be constantly training and winding up with a bunch of scrapes. He also kept visiting locations in the village instead of his clans district, such as the ramen stand, the weapons shop, dango shop, clothing store (getting the uchiha sign sowed on the back), and the library. When he'd return, he would try to tell his parents how kind the people were and even try to invite his parents to come with him for another trip. His dad asked why goes there when they had one in the district, and his mom would say perhaps another time. He tried to ask some of his clan's people, and while a few kids decided to come out of curiosity, the adults refused.

Itachi had decided to try to get the kids more attached by this point since there were only five of them, not including him and Sasuke, in the clan, with two at least three years older than him. He hoped they could reply to their parents how good the people were in the village, giving the same reasons he gave to his parents when they asked.

" _We are part of Konoha, therefore, we're allowed to shop and eat and enjoy the village like everyone else."_

Shisui would back up his words if asked, and he also would state some of his experiences should anyone in the clan ask about such things for more promoting.

'This will take time convincing everyone, I hope the kids keep with the positive words to their parents' truth was two of them seemed to be arrogant, but Itachi tried to be friends with them non the less. The words would keep replaying in his head when he felt there was no point:

" _However strong you become, never seek to bear everything alone. If you do, failure is certain."_

Even if Itachi had no intention of telling anyone about where he came from, Shisui couldn't be the only one he could ask assistance of. The kids seemed to be training with their parents instead of going to the academy so he decided to make it a point that the academy and becoming a genin of the village was the way to get stronger. He sparred with them and beat them all. They were all pissed of course, especially the eldest who was the only one that got his sharingan activated.

"We are part of the Uchiha clan, but we are also part of Konoha. Last year you would have beaten me, but the Academy made me stronger. Ask to become a shinobi and you'll see how strong you can become" were the words Itachi imparted with them, with Shisui backing him up. After a while, all five of them had been enrolled at the academy once their parents finally gave in. Two 9 year olds, one 10, one 11, and one 12 had joined, and the 12 year old was going to attempt the genin exam with him. His father was filled with pride when he found out from the parents that Itachi had won the spars, but didn't seem too happy with Itachi when Itachi had broached that his strength came from being at the academy.

" _Were Uchiha's, therefore, were the best at everything we do that's why you're strong" was what his father said._

" _But out of all the kids who are closer to my age, I'm the only one who goes to the academy; therefore, I probably am learning differently and getting stronger because of it. I even won against Sora and he has the sharingan" Itachi said, trying to look confused like a kid should._

 _Shaking his head in disappointment, he began to leave muttering "sometimes you seem so mature, and then when you do that I forget you're still just a kid"_

Needless to say his father seemed to be harbouring more hate than the rest of his clan, thus making it more difficult to convince him. Shisui would train sometimes with the group that he made friends with when Shisui wasn't out on a mission. He was quite surprised that all of them had joined the academy.

" _Geez what happened for this to happen all of a sudden" Shisui asked about a month ago._

 _Taichi, one of the 9 year olds, had answered him before I could explain, "Itachi is the youngest out of all of us and yet beat us all in a spar. He said the only difference was he went to the academy and trained, so we decided we'll get stronger together, and that includes entering the academy"._

 _Shisui was pleased from the look on his face, and tried to add his two cents in before the training began, " That's great, just remember we are part of the Uchiha clan, but we are also a Konoha citizen; therefore, try to be patient and kind to your fellow classmates. If you can't work with them by the time you graduate, then you will be the reason the teams weak."_

 _All five of them had a look of shock on their faces, so Shisui had tried a different approach, "Here's an example, if one genin was to verse a jonin, who do you think would win?"_

" _Jonin" All five of them said._

" _Correct, now if three genin were to verse a jonin, and they worked together as opposed to individually, do you think the jonin would win as easily as oppose to the one-on-on?"_

 _Realization appeared on their faces._

" _In Konoha, we work as a three man squad. It's important to have individual skills, but the way things get done is through teamwork. If you're in a bind, it will be your comrades that will save you. No matter how strong you are, three against one, or five against one, or ten against one, it won't make a difference, even if you're an Uchiha. You'll win those fights as a team, but will most likely die on your own". Shisui checked their faces to gauge their reactions._

 _They looked at each other, then looked back and got into a taijustu position, "So if all six of us were to face you, we'd have a higher chance of winning right" Zono, the 10 year old, stated._

" _Correct, now come at me, and remember, don't always take charge, let others try so they can improve and get better for the future; were all equals, be an Uchiha or a Konoha Shinobi. Arrogance can most likely hinder the team as well."_

 _They all nodded, and once I joined them, had charged._

After that, whenever Shisui was available, they'd always try to come up with plans, and surprisingly, give each other options as opposed to having one do all the thinking. It seemed that since Shisui was already a Shinobi, they took his word more to heart than if Itachi himself were to have been the one to suggest it.

After the Academy would be done for the day, Itachi and the group of friends that he made from the district would pick where to eat, then either train on one of the training grounds, or would play on the playground. Itachi suggested it, stating it might help to get to know the other kids for future references. The group seemed to be a little awkward when talking with the others kids, and even looked to him for help, but they played with them none the less.

Sometimes they would complain afterwards when heading back to the district, but Itachi would just say "isn't it less boring at least to talk with different personalities than the ones were used to at home" they would just laugh, and then start making fun of each other, or laugh at what the kids did at the academy, making Itachi smile somewhat.

* * *

Itachi knew that there was a chance his father might try to use them to get closer to the elders, but he was determined to make them more attached to the village than the clan. He needed to get them to build bonds with their future comrades.

By now, after two months, Itachi had completed the tree walking, water walking, and leaf exercise, and now had been practicing on how much shadow clones he could do. One seemed to be his limit and if he tried doing two, the second one didn't have enough chakra and disappeared after a few minutes looking a little sickly, along with Itachi panting from over use of chakra. Itachi had decided to increase the weights a little as a way to increase his stamina further, making sure no one but his cousin knew about it, while every morning he attempted the shadow clone. After the academy, he would run laps with the weights on in order to continue to increase his stamina since he didn't plan on using his sharingan any time soon. The group would sometimes join him or work on the things they felt needed improving on.

* * *

Today was the day the genin exam would take place, and then a week later he would put into a genin team. Sora, the 12 year old and the one with the Sharingan, was planning on taking the exam with him. Sora seemed to look at Shisui as more of a brother figure, and because of that he seemed to have the most change in him. He was originally the most arrogant than the entire group, but had attempted to change after his defeat with Itachi, Shisui's training, and lectures. He still had some pride and ego, Rome wasn't built in a day, but he seemed to be more patient and willing to listen when someone talked to him.

"You ready Itachi? I hope we get put on the same team" Sora said. Despite only attending the academy for a month, he got perfect on everything he did, expect working with others. Because Sora started late, he would automatically be declared the dead-last in scores once put on a team. Itachi figured he would probably be second last since he was the youngest at attempting to graduate.

"I feel we will both leave with the result we aim to achieve. I will put everything Shisui has been teaching us to action once we are placed on a team" Itachi said us, even though he had separate sessions sometimes with Shisui, in order to prevent jealously or envy from Sora; Sora sometimes would get that way when he saw the two of them together. Even though it was a bit out of character for Itachi, he raised his fist for Sora to respond to, which Sora happily did; it was Sora's way to greet or wish good luck or congratulate to others.

"Sora Uchiha, you're up" called one of the sensei's'.

"Let's do this, we will graduate together" Sora stated, and then proceeded to the examination.

* * *

Itachi did not have to wait long when his name was called, and just like last time, he graduated with a head band placed on his head. Sora walked up to him, and bumped fists with him again.

They usually left after the academy, but a surprise appeared on their faces when Itachi's parents and brother showed up with Shisui, along with Sora's grandparents; Sora's parents died when he was young.

"Well now that's my boy, good work son" Fugaku said with one of his rare smiles on his face.

"Congratulation to the two of you, especially you Sora since you only joined last month" Mikoto congratulated. Sasuke appeared to be held in her arms, and began to lean towards Itachi. Itachi lifted his arms, with a smile on his face, and helped up Sasuke in his arms.

"Are you going to congratulate your older brother too Sasuke" Itachi asked him.

Sasuke just placed a wet kiss on Itachi's cheek and screamed out "Itachi". They all laughed.

"Sora, I know we didn't really approve at first, but I am glad to see you smiling more; the academy indeed have showed results in your behavior and I'll be sure to thank the sensei's of this school" Sora's grandparents both nodded at this as his grandma spoke.

"Thanks oba-san, I am happier to be honest, and I will do my best to keep the clan proud of me" Sora stated with a smile on his face.

"Just do the best you can do Sora, we'll be proud no matter what, after all, failing is part of the lesson in life" Shisui said, smiling and ruffling Sora's hair in the process.

Although Fugaku narrowed his eyes on Shisui's comment, he didn't say anything.

"Well, how about we celebrate your promotion to genin, what would you like to do you two" Mikoto asked.

Thinking of a chance to get his parents to see more of Konoha, Itachi looked at Sora, who looked back at him and nodded. By this point the others have been trying to get their families to see more of Konoha. Before Itachi himself had offered to hangout, they had never bothered to see the village, and immediately thought it was huge and wanted to explore the place. Needless to say, they enjoyed every minute of it when it came to playing or eating or visiting stores.

"There's this barbecue place that the six of us sometimes go to after the academy. We wish to all go there together to celebrate; some of the servers there are starting to think were orphans because none of our parents ever come" Sora said, with a bit of a smirk at the last comment.

Fugaku had a hard look on his face and seemed to want to say something, but Mikoto beat him to it, "sure thing you two, I use to eat there myself with a friend years ago whenever she wasn't going to eat at the ramen stand."

The grandparents both nodded at this, "It's been quite some years since we ate there, I wonder if it looks the same. We don't usually leave the district since we are old enough to get tired easily, but since it's a special occasion we will join you guys." Sora's grandfather said.

Itachi, still holding Sasuke in his arms, proceeded to lead them to the barbecue location. It appeared that since everyone agreed Fugaku had no choice but to comply, walking with a stiff position of head of the clan.

'It isn't much, but it's a start. I hope Tou-san will be more open after this' It wasn't much to hope for, but at least his father would see that people of Konoha did indeed have respect for the clan.

* * *

AN there we are.

I hope You guys are liking the story so far

On another note, I have began a story called Unwavering Heart. I like it and I hope you guys can check it out.

27 follows, and 13 favorites, wow, people really like Itachi


	5. Chapter 5

Hey everyone

Heres the next one

Okay so I've been getting reviews stating that I tend to switch from third person to first frequently enough that it gets confusing.

Let me know if the same thing is happening in this chapter, I tried to keep it consistent.

* * *

Chapter 5

As the group were walking towards the barbecue destination, people seemed to give glances towards them. The villagers didn't usually see much of the Uchiha clan out of the district; therefore, it came as a surprise to some people. Sora just looked at them and gave them a wave since he knew some of them when he hung out with the group. Itachi tried waving, but came up with a better idea; he picked up Sasuke's hand and began moving it in a wave form, "Say hi to everyone Sasuke."

"Hiiiii" Sasuke yelled out. This got the staring to change into smiles, and people waved back.

"Oh man Itachi no fair. You have your brother to get people's attention, we just have ourselves and we can't compete with the 'cuteness' factor" Shisui teased.

"Hn" was all Itachi said back.

Sora was just snickering next to them, while the grandparents offered a smile. Mikoto also offered one, while Fugaku kept walking with a firm face.

Once they found the entry to the barbecue house, a familiar waitress came up to them and placed them in one of the bigger sitting areas. She gave them menus and asked if they require something to drink.

"Hey Ran-nee-chan", 'ah Ran that's the name' Itachi thought, "How are things? Look, check it out, me and Itachi are now ninjas" Sora bragged, pointing to his headband.

"Well congrats, it explains why you're here today instead of Friday, does that mean this is the family" Ran asked as she looked at each one of the adults.

"Sure is, were celebrating, now the old man can't say were orphans ne? Sora smirked.

Ran, also smirking, pulled out her pen and notebook, "of course. Actually, since you brought your family with you, I now won the bet we made with each other. After I bring you your table's order, I'll get him to come greet you guys. What will it be?"

Everyone just asked for green tea and a mixture of meat. She wrote it down and proceeded to get the order placed.

"Sora, you know that waitress" Fugaku finally spoke.

"Yes. The six of us at the academy usually come to eat here on Fridays before heading to the training grounds. She's usually here on those days so she has become our regular server. She's very friendly and, on the slower days, she tends to converse with all of us, along with what she wishes to do in the future" Sora explained.

"She's quite a talented artist and musician. She says she's saving enough money to travel before setting off and painting all over the five nations" Itachi decided to add to show he had been paying attention.

"That's true, she showed us some of those paintings; the hokage heads looked so real" Sora added.

Fugaku had an unreadable face and continued to stay quiet. Mikoto, on the other hand, had now become curious.

"Hey, Sora-kun, are you eating here too to celebrate" Said a girl around Sora's age.

"Hey, uh, Neko-chan, yeah I am; everyone, this is Neko Kami. Neko-chan, this is my grandparents, Shisui Uchiha, Itachi Uchiha and his brother Sasuke, and his dad Fugaku Uchiha and his mom Mikoto Uchiha" Sora said nervously.

"Hello, are you a friend of Sora-kun?" Mikoto asked.

"Ummm, well were classmates and Sora-kun's never rude when I talk to him, so I guess so" She looked to Sora for confirmation.

Sora nodded with a grin on his face.

"Neko-chan, come, the meat's here. We'll eat it all if you just stand there" yelled one of the people at a table farther away; it appeared to be an older male.

"Coming, well I'll see you next week Sora-kun" Neko waved and headed back to her table.

Shisui began to snicker, and Itachi just couldn't help but smirk; the tough looking Sora was looking shy in front of a girl.

"So Sora, when's the wedding; I am quite curious on how your kids are going to look like" Shisui began to tease.

Sora started turning red and pointed at Shisui, "Shut up! She's really nice; at least, she treats me like a classmate and doesn't keep asking me out on dates like most of the girls in my class."

"Ah, the curse of all Uchiha's; we are just so good-looking, and on top of it were skillful. It makes girls gush and turn into mushy fan girls" Shisui shivered at the thought.

"You should have seen Fugaku when he was at the academy; he and one of our classmates were always tying for first place, but all the girls just kept chasing after him. Me and my friend would just laugh sometimes at the two" Mikoto said.

Fugaku's lips twitched a bit, and his eyes seemed to be in thought.

"Here you guys are, the boss decided to give you guys discounts on the celebration; he added a bit more meat than usual for our new regulars" Ran had returned with the food and green tea, giving the boys a wink.

"Thank you dear, we'll be sure to thank him in person once were done eating" Sora's grandfather said.

Ran just bowed, and went back to work.

* * *

The meal for the most part consisted of small chatter from back in the day; to thoughts of what missions would be done as genin, to Shisui talking about aiming for anbu soon.

Once everyone had their fill, they waited on the bill to come. Sasuke had fallen asleep by that point and Itachi's arms had gone a little numb.

An old man, who seemed to be in his sixties, had approached their table. He was wearing the chef outfit. "Sora-kun, Itachi-kun, it seems I have now lost some money because of you two. I suppose this is your family?"

"Ha-ha, well, we did keep saying that we did have family. They just weren't with us" Sora laughed.

He introduced everyone to the chef, who the chef turned out to be Jinzo, a retired Shinobi who now cooks for a living.

After the pleasantries Jinzo returned back to the kitchen. The bill was paid, and they all returned back to the district.

"I must say, I haven't enjoyed myself like that in years. Perhaps we should visit the Barbecue place again sometime, how about it Sora-chan?" Stated Sora's grandmother.

"Sure thing, and next time it'll be because of a success of a great mission completed" Sora stated.

"Well let's head back home. Enjoy the rest of your evenings and congratulation's once again Itachi-kun" said Sora's grandfather.

"You two get home safely and congratulations once again Sora-kun" Mikoto said in return.

Once they parted, and Itachi's family got home, he immediately set Sasuke in his crib.

After tucking Sasuke in, Itachi went to the living room; he saw his parents sitting at the kitchen table.

"Itachi-chan, is Sasuke still sleeping" Mikoto asked.

Nodding, he approached the table and sat down.

"I haven't really enjoyed myself like that since before I retired as a shinobi. How about you Fugaku; doesn't it bring back memories?" Mikoto asked.

"….It certainly has more variety since I had last ate there" Fugaku finally answered.

Itachi wasn't much of a talker, but now that his father was talking about the village, he decided to continue the conversation, "When was the last time you ate there Tou-san?"

Placing a hand on his chin, he responded, "I think it was the day Minato was declared the fourth hokage. It took quite some convincing to get his girlfriend to agree not to head to the ramen stand that day."

"Her name was Kushina dear" Mikoto firmly said.

"Who's Minato?" Itachi knew of course who he was, but had wanted to keep the conversation going.

"Minato was one of the genin that graduated a bit earlier than the average graduating age. He was 10 when he became genin, like me. We were in the same class together and were always competing for the rookie of the year. I, of course, made it first, but it was because his writing skills were less than mine, and I had a lower skill in working with others. Even when we were placed on separate teams, we still would compete with each other, although, Minato never really took it serious; he seemed to just have fun whenever we either sparred or trained together. In time I also began enjoying them to" a faint smile play on his lips.

"Sounds like a great friend to have, just like me and Shisui" Itachi said.

Surprise appeared on Fugaku face, as if the thought just occurred to him, "Friend? I guess Minato and I were indeed friends. He was worthy of the position of fourth hokage, and I was one of his appointed advisors along with Shikaku, until the attack on the village by the kyubi. I truly believe he was a better candidate than the third" His face had darkened at that point.

"Itachi-chan, perhaps it's best to get ready for bed" Mikoto said, seeing how the enjoyable atmosphere had tensed.

Nodding, Itachi got up and went to his room, wishing he could make his dad forget that things are not as they are at the present.

"..Tou-san, tomorrow I wish to show you my progress on the fire-ball justu if you have time" Itachi said, realizing that perhaps that could get him to forget.

Fugaku turned his head towards Itachi and nodded, "I look forward to seeing how far you've gotten" it seemed to indeed take his mind off of the topic.

Nodding once more, he left the room.

* * *

Once Itachi had left the room, Mikoto got a sad look in her eyes, "It really has been quite some time since we've gone out. Kushina had gotten pregnant not long after that and they were both so excited about being parents. The boy wasn't even born yet and Kushina was still acting like a worry wart about him. He must be almost one by now."

"If she was the worried one, Minato was the easy going one, always saying everything would turn out right; a genius but also a goof" Fugaku continued.

"I certainly hope Sasuke-chan grows to befriend him. He's already going to face a lot of discrimination for what is sealed within him. Perhaps I can ask Itachi-chan" Mikoto looked hopeful.

"For now Itachi has to focus on his career; the boy is not yet old enough to notice such things" Fugaku said getting up.

Mikoto followed his example and the both of them went to their rooms, never noticing the ear dropper nearby before it spoofed out of existence.

* * *

Itachi was just lying down, waiting for his shadow clone to finish with listening to his parents talk. From the information he gathered, it seemed that going to eat out in Konoha has brought some memories for them. Whether it was good memories he couldn't be sure, 'perhaps a bit of both' he thought. What Itachi did know, though, was that getting Naruto to befriend Sasuke in the near future seemed to be the right choice if what the conversation he had with his parents were anything to go by.

On another note, it seemed that Sora was already beginning to forge a bond with someone, 'well not yet I suppose, but at least there's the interest of creating one there'. The other three of the group were bound to be excited or at the very least curious once they meet up with them again.

'It's only been a month for them, but if they work the way most Uchiha parents do, they push their kids, there's a chance that they'll attempt at early graduation as well' and that may be either beneficial, or harder, depending on their mind frames.

'I've got to keep us connected, and get along with all the genin teams we encounter in order to keep the connection to Konoha close' was his last thought as his eyes slowly closed.

Whatever the future would bring, it all would begin starting next week.

* * *

And that's it. So maybe it was a bit shorter than my usual posts, but I felt this was proper.

heads up, Sora is probably going to become more involved in the story since he is now a genin, so for those who's liking his character so far, be pleased.

Cheers


	6. Chapter 6

Hi guys

Sorry for the late post. My dad had returned from Lebenon today, so a lot of cleaning and picking him up took place.

The chapter is a bit shorter than my usuals. I feel that it may have been a bit rushed in mistake checking, so if you guys do find any mistakes, please let me know.

Chapter 6 everybody, enjoy

I don't own Naruto

* * *

Chapter 6

A week after graduation, Itachi was waiting in class an hour early to find out who would be on his team. He didn't remember who they were in the past, but since Sora wasn't part of the graduation back then, it might be off balance, or perhaps, he would get different teammates. Nothing much had happened within the past week; He had shown Fugaku the fire ball technique at its best, which brought a smile to Fugaku's face, along with the usual, "that's my boy", comment. The others of the group had approached with their own congrats to him and Sora. They all exclaimed that they would graduate the following year.

Shisui had gone back to doing missions and hadn't been seen since. Something about border patrol.

His musings had been going on for almost 40 minutes as the graduates slowly filled up the classroom. He saw Sora, and gave him a small wave. Sora just approached him and lifted his fist for the bump, which Itachi complied.

"Finally, I have been edgy this whole week. Now it's time to set foot into the ninja world and show them what I'm made of" Sora proudly said out loud, earning several looks from the class.

"I agree, but remember, if you can't work with the team you're given, then you'll become the weakest link. So long as were with a team, we have to get along with them for a mission to be successful" Itachi reminded him.

Sora's grin suddenly dropped, and in its place was a serious face, "Oh I remember, and even I can see that the elders seem to show more pride in our eyes than the village. I don't get why they never mentioned the village when giving us the 'lecture on importance for the Uchiha's', but I'll show them that the clan isn't a separate entity from the village", his voice went low into a whisper as if embarrassed on what he was about to say next, "I know I had a hard face when we first met, but that's because I was alone. Even if I'm not remotely close to anyone in my graduating class, talking to them made me feel less alone and less tense. Wish everyone of our clan would just loosen up. I'm glad at least Shisui is like that."

Itachi's eyebrows rose at that; Sora admitted what most of the clan never would. Itachi felt pleased that his efforts were starting to show some results.

"Alright everyone, settle down", the sensei said, and everyone else who graduated had now entered the class, "As of right now you are genin, the lowest form of ninja, but it's also the first step to your career. It will only get harder from here so make sure to listen to your superior; otherwise, it will most likely result in an early death. I will be placing all of you in teams of three, organized by the hokage himself, and you will wait for your jonin instructor in this classroom after lunch. Team one…" Itachi just zoned out as the sensei began to call the team names. He was looking at Sora, who seemed to be trying to look at the girl we saw in the barbecue restaurant last week without being caught, "Team 6: Neko Kami, Inu Katto, and Sora Uchiha. Your sensei will be Daru Jyinue. Team 7" and once again, Itachi just tuned him out until he reached the last team, "Team 10 will be Hikari Yagami, Takeru Takaishi, and Itachi Uchiha. Your Jonin instructor will be Yamato Ishida. You all have a two hour break to do whatever you wish. Make sure you all are back by 10" and with that he left. Most of the class shortly followed his example.

"Hey Itachi, want to go out to the ramen stand?" Sora asked.

"I would, but I think we should use this time to get to know our teammates. Two hours is plenty of time" Sora's face seemed to deflate as he once again looked back to where the girl was sitting; she was packing her things.

Itachi really couldn't help but let a little smirk appear on his face; it's such a wonder when even the most powerful ninja act like a timid child in front of a girl. Sora acted tough, proud, was able to back up his skills, and speak his mind, but this Neko girl was causing him to hesitate.

"If it helps, they might be nervous too since they don't really know you" Itachi said.

Sora suddenly jumped, wide eyed, and turned his head away; his face turning a little red, "who said I was nervous, I'm just waiting for them to be finished!"

Itachi nodded, put his own backpack on, and began to walk where his new teammates seemed to be conversing. From their actions it seemed that they were already friends.

"Hello, my name is Itachi Uchiha, and I hope we will get along" Itachi said with a bit of a bow.

The two of them were startled with his speech, and they looked at each other; confusion was apparent on there faces.

"You don't have to be so formal Itachi-kun. We know who you are; I guess it's us you don't know about. Hikari and I here were planning on going to a dango restaurant for some late breakfast. Would you like to join us?" The boy named Takeru asked, scratching the back of his head.

"I would be delighted, and it would be a great way to get familiar with the team" Itachi responded. With that the three of them made their way to the Dango shop.

* * *

"…And when the ball came to me, I focused on my chakra to my leg, and, somehow, the ball exploded instead of flying back to my dad" Hikari said. She was explaining what she had done during the week. Takeru just burst out laughing, and Itachi attempted to just stick with smiling; honest emotions are the best way to connect with others.

"Aww, come on Itachi-kun, you know that was a funny story" Takeru said as he lightly patted Itachi's back.

"I'm sorry; I've just been training myself to control my emotions, so anything I find funny at most would either bring a smile to my face, or a smirk. Perhaps in the future you guys might influence me to laugh" and it was true, Itachi hadn't laughed in more than a decade; it would take a while.

The whole conversation had been going pleasantly well, and apart from the beginning being awkward, the two of them seemed to already feel comfortable with him; something that he didn't remember happening from last time. It seemed that the two of them had known each other since the age of three, and both of them were actually 10, opposed to most of the 12 year olds. He guessed that the hokage wanted the smallest age group together in order for the three to feel more comfortable with each other in working together.

"Don't worry Itachi-kun, we will someday make you laugh; it will be our biggest achievement to get an Uchiha to laugh" Hikari joked.

"Actually, you act different than the rest of your clan if I'll be honest; don't take offence, but they seem to be really prideful. You seem more calm and respectful" Takeru honestly admitted.

"I won't lie; I feel the same way about most of my clan, but there are a few who are respectful, and are actually able to laugh and joke, unlike me. If we have sometime today, perhaps I can introduce you to the group I would be meeting with after the academy would ring for the day" he hoped that he wasn't pushing it in order to start connecting the group with his team.

They just both smiled, "actually, that would be great. I got second information about your clan, so it would be nice to get a better perceptive in person" Hikari said, with Takeru nodding in agreement.

Surprise was on his face, but he appreciated that they were being open and not hesitant. Itachi looked at the time, and it showed that it was almost time to meet up with the class.

"It's almost time for everyone to return. Shall we head back?" he asked. Itachi had decided that he wouldn't take the lead unless the situation called for it.

The two looked at the time and were startled by what they saw. They immediately paid the tab, and the three went back to the academy.

* * *

"Team 10" the jonin called, "Follow me to the roof in five minutes" and then he appeared to shushin.

"Good luck Itachi" Sora said. Nodding, he followed after his teammates to the rooftop.

Once all three were there, sensei began the introductions, "Welcome young genin to the beginning of your shinobi career. Let's introduce ourselves to understand one another. I'll start first: my name is Yamato Ishida. What I like is seafood and particular books that you're too young to know about. What I don't like are deep-fried food and strong scented perfumes. My dream for the future is to continue my service as jonin. Hobbies are painting on my spare time. Next", he pointed at Hikari.

"My name is Hikari Yagami. What I like is dancing and hanging out with my friends. What I dislike are unnecessary conflict and my friends getting hurt. My dream is to be one of the best medic shinobi because it means I can take care of my friends should they need treatment. My hobbies are taking photos and keeping a scrap book of memories by them" Yamato nodded his head and pointed to Takeru.

"My name is Takeru Takaishi and my likes are training and star gazing. What I dislike are bullies and some family issues. My dream is to become a very strong shinobi so when I go on missions, I can protect my comrades from fatal injuries. My hobbies I guess is throwing a ball around and helping Hikari with the picture scrap book."

"Okay, next" and it was finally his turn.

"My name is Itach Uchiha. I like my family, friends, and peace. I dislike the hatred that seems to be growing since the last shinobi war. My dream is to do something about the hatred, maybe becoming hokage would help. My hobbies are training and playing with my little brother" I sat with my hands crossed underneath my nose.

Sensei just looked at him as if surprised for a second, then shook his head and returned to his normal appearance.

"Okay, seems you guys are a mix, which is good. Now, I'm going to tell you the true genin test" he stopped to gauge their reactions.

Both Hikari and Takeru seemed surprised, but Itachi kept his cool appearance.

"I'll let you know, not everyone passes. On average, the passing level is 33%, while the rest return to the academy for a year or drop out. It doesn't mean it's always 33%, but that's what it's averaged to. Meet me at training ground 10 at 8 am for the test, don't be late" and with that he just shushined away.

"So what was the point of the academy test if we need to do this? Sigh and I thought we could begin right away. What would you guys like to do? I don't know what the test is about, but perhaps we should check out what were capable of in order to be prepared?" Takreu asked the both of us.

"Let's hang out and discuss what we should do. What do you think Itachi-kun?" Hikari turned to him.

"I agree, I think we would have a better chance at our test if we know each other's abilities; he's a jonin so us dealing with him individually is already out of the question" Itachi responded, hoping they would listen.

It seemed like they both agreed with his explanation. The three of them went to some location to discuss things out about the genin test.

'It seems like things are already at a good start. I hope Sora is getting along with his team as well.'

* * *

And that's a wrap

Well, how does everyone seem to think of his teammates, and no, just because Hikari wants to be a medic doesn't mean she'll be a mini Sakura, it just means she wants to be a great medic in general.

Since I was late today with the posting, I'll give you a little preview for the next chapter

 _Chapter 7 Preview_

 _Meanwhile, with Sora's team, things weren't going as simple as Itachi's. Neko was the top kunoichi of the class, and Inu was the rookie of the year even though he was just a civilian. Sora was considered dead last since he had only been at the academy for a month, despite getting perfect in everything he did. He had finally gotten up, and asked the two of them if they wanted to eat out together._

 _Neko had hesitated while looking at Inu, who was just looking out the window. Sora decided to ask again, until what Inu said made his blood boil, "why, so you can just copy our abilities? No thanks, I have no intention of working with someone who cheats his way into the ninja world."_

 _Sora had jumped on the table in front of Inu, and grabbed him from the front of his shirt..._

 **That's all until next time**


	7. Chapter 7

Hi everyone

So this Chapter is more focused about Sora and his team since I'm thinking of making Sora become one of the main characters at a later part of the story and it's best to at least see his dynamics at being a ninja.

I tried to make explanations in this chapter as less confusing as possible, but if you guys still feel confused let me know so I can try to fix it

Enjoy,

I don't own Naruto

* * *

Chapter 7

Meanwhile, with Sora's team, things weren't going as simple as Itachi's. Neko was the top kunoichi of the class, and Inu was the rookie of the year, even though he was just a civilian. Sora was considered dead last since he had only been at the academy for a month, despite getting perfect in everything he did. He had finally gotten up, and asked the two of them if they wanted to eat together.

Neko had hesitated while looking at Inu, who was just looking out the window. Sora decided to ask again, until what Inu said made his blood boil, "why, so you can just copy our abilities? No thanks, I have no intention of working with someone who cheats his way into the ninja world."

Sora had jumped on the table in front of Inu, and grabbed him from the front of his shirt, "Who cheats? We're shinobi, not samurai, and besides, I had to train my butt off in order to keep up with the academy, so don't say that I 'Cheated' my way into being a ninja."

Inu just remained calm as he removed Sora's hands off his shirt, "then prove it and face me without your eye skill. If you can fight me without it, then I'll admit that you're my equal, and I'll take back my word. If you use it even once, then you'll prove me right."

Sora didn't understand Inu's reason, but nodded in compliance as he followed him out to the academy grounds. Both of them stood on the field where the students would spar, and they faced each other.

"Remember, don't use your sharingan. If you do, you automatically lose" Inu reminded him.

Sora nodded and got into his taijustu position. 'I guess Shisui's training without the sharingan will come in handy'. The first week that Shisui had trained the group, he made Sora not use his sharingan since it would be unfair to the others. Since then, Sora has gotten use to not using it; he would rather train with the group then on his own. Neko had suddenly come out, and looked surprised to see them in a fighting stance. She yelled at them to stop, but neither paid any attention to her.

Getting into a fighting stance position, Inu waited for a few seconds, and then charged forward. 'He's fast' Sora thought as he dodged Inu's punch at the last second.

Most think that the Uchiha's are naturally born with the ability to be fast, but that wasn't the case. Usually when one awakens the sharingan, and they face an opponent who's faster, they would train themselves to match what their sharingans would follow. Only a few ever face this fact in life, and Sora was not one of those few. Sora was more of a power house, therefore, he was quick to dodge, but not quick with someone who was skilled in taijustu, which Inu clearly was. Sora may have gotten perfect like Inu in taijustu, but it didn't mean they were equally skilled in it. It just meant that they both were able to meet the requirements to graduate.

Inu seemed to know that he would dodge, and immediately pushed his left foot on the ground to gain momentum, and elbowed Sora. Sora blocked, and when Inu's attack came into contact, he realized there wasn't much power in his attack. Understanding this fact, Sora decided to just let Inu get close to him, counter it, then land a blow of his own.

Inu threw kunai's at him as a distraction, which he blocked with own, as Inu got close. Sora began gathering chakra in his fist, and then aimed at Inu's side.

Before it could land the blow, however, Inu had disappeared. Looking around, Sora saw an anbu holding Inu under his arm. The anbu then looked at Sora, and Sora couldn't help but shiver; the anbu was pouring killing intent out.

"Were you two trying to cause broken bones?"

"Put me down, I was just about to win before you pulled me away" Inu yelled. His face was going red.

"Really, I can feel when chakra is gathering, and from the way the fight was turning out, if that boy had landed a hit at you, you would have had broken ribs and internal bleeding; he was gathering chakra in his hands enough to destroy the entire academy grounds."

Inu just looked surprised at this as he turned his head towards Sora. Sora just glared at the anbu, "how did you know that I was gathering chakra? Unless you have a Doujsu, there's no way to tell. Even if you can feel chakra gathering, there's no way you would know where it's is being concentrated!"

"Maa, maa, I just guessed that was where you were gathering. You just confirmed it for me." The anbu dropped Inu back on his feet, then warned them not to repeat anything of the sort on their own, and took off.

An awkward silence was starting to take place, and Sora thought perhaps he should input Shisui's whole "being the bigger man about it" and apologize to Inu. He walked towards Inu, and as he got close, he suddenly found his face on the ground. Sora rubbed his head as he raised his face to see who assaulted him, just to see Neko in-between him and Inu, with her fist shaking.

"What the hell is wrong with you two? Are you both idiots? If you guys want to fight, wait until we meet up with our sensei. It would not make a good first impression if the two of you were in the hospital" Neko yelled at the two of them.

Sora got up and turned towards Inu. Inu seemed to be looking away from them, rubbing his head. It looked like he got punched as well.

Sora decided to continue what he was trying to do before, and raised a hand to Inu, "look, sorry for trying to punch you with a chakra concentrated punch. It was the only idea I could think of since you're unbelievably fast."

Inu still wouldn't turn around, and Sora dropped his hand; he wasn't good with dealing with people that well. Fortunately, Neko seemed to lose her patients, and just grabbed Inu's hand, pulling him up.

"Listen, were a team now, so we need to cooperate. We're going to go to a nice, friendly, ramen stand, and we are going to get to know each other, understand?" Neko said it as if there would be consequences should either of them refuse.

Sora nodded and Inu was just looking at the ground. Neko began to lead them towards their destination.

* * *

"Welcome to Ichiraku ramen. What can I get for you?"

"Three bowls of miso ramen please" Neko ordered the meals before either Sora or Inu said a word.

The old man just nodded, and went into the kitchen in order to prepare the meals.

Silence was met for a few minutes, until Neko cleared her throat.

"So, Sora-kun, Inu-kun; what did you guys do for the week?" Neko asked, trying to get a conversation going.

Inu just stayed quiet, looking away from them, while Sora was looking at the two. Sora really didn't want to be on bad terms with Inu (he was suppose be trying to make friends), but it made him really mad, and a little hurt from his statement of cheating. Even if he had only started the academy about a month or so ago, he spent years training with his parents before they died, and even then he kept on training.

Sora turned to look at Neko, and realized that she was waiting on a response from either one of them.

"….I met up with the group of boys from my clan, and then did some training. I talked with my grandparents on what it means to be a ninja" Sora said lamely.

"Really, so how old are the ones in the group?" Neko asked.

"They are 9, 10, and 11. Before me and Itachi became genins, the five of us would hang out. We promised them that if there was free time, me and Itachi would meet up and do our usual routine."

"What did it consist of?" Neko seemed to get more curious as more answers were given. It seemed that Inu was listening to this portion of the conversation as well.

"Well, we would usually choose a place to eat, find an empty training ground to use, and then decide on what we wanted to work with. My cousin, Shisui, had advised me on not using the sharingan during training, unless it was the sharingan itself I was training with. It made me appreciate my eyes more when I do train with them activated. It somehow makes them sharper and more attune to movement." Sora tried to explain, choosing his words carefully; he didn't want to sound arrogant when it came to his eyes.

Neko gave a small smile before talking again, "That sounds like you really care about your friends; my brother says that others tend to stay away from those who are usually seen different. By choosing to not have them activated, your saying that you would rather train with them on even ground."

Sora's eyes widened by surprise, "I didn't really think of that! So that's probably why Shisui told me not to use it. But, it still doesn't change the fact that my eyes and skills actually improved through not using them; everything just becomes enhanced when I activate them. Shisui said that a lot of the clan has become too reliant on our bloodline limit, and that they limit themselves in what skills they could be good at. He said that us younger generation are capable of surpassing them if we don't give into 'ignorance' and 'limitations'", scratching the back of his head, he looked a bit embarrassed, "Sorry; Shisui is so amazing that sometimes I can't help but ramble about him. He's like an older brother, even though I'm the older than him."

"Wow. I never knew you-

"He's right." Inu's spoke for the first time since their fight, interrupting whatever Neko had to say in the process.

"What?" Sora was both surprised, and confused to his words; surprised that he was paying attention, and confused as what he meant by his words.

"He's right. If you don't give into arrogance, you won't be limited and can become strong. I'm proof of that since I'm a civilian; I was rookie of the class. Those clan kids could say whatever they wanted about me, but when it came to facing me, they couldn't back up their words. It's why they preferred to just spread rumors about me behind my back" Inu gave him a look as if he was searching for something.

"…What it is?" Sora was starting to feel a bit unnerved by his look of both understanding and confusion.

"….Your different from what I've heard of the Uchiha clan. Some of it is good when it comes to there skills, but it never was a good reflection about their personalities. I'm sorry" at his last words, he turned his head away from embarrassment.

Sora's face was of utmost shock, but since Inu wasn't looking at him, he didn't see it as he continued speaking, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have placed my judgement of you based on what others have said about your clan without my own observation; I guess I acted the same way as the other clan people did."

Shaking his head, Sora smiled and reached over Neko to place a hand on Inu's shoulder, "I haven't heard anything of what our class has said, so just warn me of what's true and what's not. And it's okay, but if it helps, then I accept your apology; my name is Sora Uchiha and I wish for us to get to know each other and be friends."

Inu turned his look back at Sora after hearing this, and smirked. Sora has never seen anything but a blank face and sometimes anger on Inu's face during his time at the academy.

Neko smiled at this as the ramen bowls they ordered were placed in front of them. No one spoke during the meal, but the quiet was a comfortable silence. Once they were done, they paid their meal, and proceeded back to the academy to wait for their jonin sensei.

* * *

"Team 6?" a man as tall as Iruka Umino called out.

All three of them got up and walked towards the man that called out for the team.

"Daru Jyinue is the name, and punctuality is my game. Meet me at training ground 6 in ten minutes" and with that, he spoofed out of existence.

All three of them started running towards the location, realizing that ten minutes was hardly enough time to get to the training grounds on time.

Once they got there, all three were panting. Daru Jyinue was just there in a meditative state until he heard them arrive. He got up and had a playful smile on his face while the three sat down.

"I approve so far; two minutes early. Now, before I give you your first mission, I wish to know about you three. Tell me about yourself, such as who you are, likes, dislikes, hobbies, and dreams. I won't tell you anything about myself until after the mission is complete. You first" he pointed at Neko.

"Me? Well, my name is Neko Kami. I like flowers and reading. I dislike fan girls and cooked vegetables; I can only appreciate them fresh. My dream, well I have two; to be one of the best medics I can be, and to make myself worthy of being called a kunoichi. Hobbies, I guess writing stories that I think of; I always carry a notebook on me."

"Very well, Next" he pointed at Inu.

Inu had one leg straight, while the other bent near his body. His elbow was on his knee, while he had his hand closed, chin sitting on it; his expression appeared to be bored.

"My name is Inu Katto. My likes are training and spicy food. I have too many dislikes to name them all, but if I had to pick one, I hate those who think that because they come from a clan, it makes them better than anyone-no offense," he quickly looked at Sora before continuing, "my dream is to make a name for myself in order to motivate those who are clan less, like me, to keep working hard. I want them to believe that you can start from nothing to become something later on. Hobbies, I enjoy doing target practice far distance, so archery of some sort."

"Okay, on to you" Daru pointed to Sora.

Sora tried to make himself look professional, but his emotions of excitement to over, "Names Sora Uchiha. I like my friends at the district and training. I dislike many things as well, but it's a long list so just ask along the way. My dream is to become a Jonin or anbu. My hobbies are hanging out with the group 'Uchihas' we were dubbed back at the academy."

Daru Jyinue just looked at all three, and nodded as if pleased by something, "So far so good in terms qualities of being a ninja; now let me tell you your mission. The mission will be survival training, which will take place tomorrow. I won't tell you anything else but that. Once you arrive at 6 am tomorrow, I will tell you the details, and you three will need to execute it without fail; if you don't, you will not become genin" the looks of the three seemed to appear shocked.

"….What? You mean were not genin yet" Sora was starting to feel dread pooling in the pit of his stomach.

"No. In the academy you were taught the minimal amount in order to see if you can learn to become a ninja, but the mission that I'm giving you will let me know if you can apply what you've learned at the academy onto the actual field. If you can, then it's proof that you deserve to be ninja. If you can't, then either you will go back for another year to try again, or you quit being a shinobi all together; there are some people that just can't be ninja no matter what because they lack a certain quality. Tomorrow, you will have the opportunity to show me that quality. Ja ne" and with that he left.

"Dammit, I'm going to kill Shisui for forgetting that bit of information. I bet Itachi is steaming from this as well" sighing, he looked at the other two; it seemed that they were just as annoyed as he was.

"Well, I'm going to head out and meet my group, see you tomorrow" Sora left after that, wanting to find a place to vent out his frustration.

'I still got time before meeting them, but I don't want to appear out of control when they see me. One thing is for certain; I _won't_ fail tomorrow' he thought, not realizing that he was being shadowed from afar.

* * *

Well how's that. I'm not really good at explaining fighting scenes so I tried my best at it. The next couple of chapters are going to be fluctuating between Sora and Itachi before the main focus gets back on Itachi, so a lot of fight scenes that I'm going to have to come up with, boo.

Anyway Thanks to all that continue to give me reviews and feed back and criticism in order to improve as a writer and make this story more interesting. Those reviews really do help.

Cheers


	8. Chapter 8

Hey everyone

I hope everyone is enjoying the summer that we've been having; it's hard to work on the garden when it keeps raining.

I know last week and this week has been later than my usual posts, I haven't had much computer time as I would like.

This chapter is mostly Sora, but has a bit of Itachi in it.

Enjoy

I don't own Naruto

* * *

Chapter 8

Walking with his hands in his pockets, Sora decided to head to one of the training grounds in order to release some tension he had been feeling since meeting his new sensei. He was slightly peeved that there had been a second test to being a genin (he would get Shisui for that), and even though Inu had apologized for the accusation from earlier, he still needed to vent out his frustration.

'Here's a good place to train' Sora decided to train in body building for now, and got into a taijustu position before striking at the wooden posts. After half an hour of this, he began to do about 200 push-ups, then jumping squats of 20, switching to 30 second planks, and back to jumping squats until he did this set of 10 times. Once he finished, he switched to V-sit-ups of 300. Feeling fatigued, he checked his watch and saw that he still had about two hours before meeting up with the trio after the academy. Sora decided to lie down, satisfied that the tension that he felt earlier had left, and slowly closed his eyes. He breathed deeply to lower his heart rate back down, not realising that by doing this; he had gradually started to drift to sleep. Once fallen asleep, the shadow that had been following him earlier came out, and looked down at him.

* * *

Neko had felt annoyed when her two teammates attempted to beat the crap out of each other that morning, but was happy when the two came to an acceptance before meeting with their jonin sensei. She wanted the three of them to be able to work together and be friends. While her older brother was great company to have, having her strict and rarely at home father would just ruin the atmosphere. It was why she decided to be a ninja instead of following in her father and brothers footsteps; she wanted her independence and freedom. Being a ninja gave her that fair amount. After their sensei stated another test in order to become genin, the annoyed feeling returned. When he left, she had originally wanted to see if the two had wanted to hang out before retiring for the day. Sora had immediately left before she could ask, and Inu had not even made a sound when he did. She really didn't want to go home yet, so she decided to follow after Sora, hoping not to interfere with whatever plan he had. When she followed him to the training grounds, she had become curious, and hid to watch what he would do. She had been surprised for the most part of his workout; it seemed he was venting more than focusing. Once he had lain down and passed out, she slowly made her way towards him. Looking down, she saw the fatigue and bruises. His hands had been bleeding it seemed, and deciding that it wouldn't due to have him injured before tomorrow, had lowered herself into a sitting position, taking his hands, and concentrated on healing. She had been practicing for two years on healing, but there weren't enough chances to using her medical ninjustu, so she had to completely focus on it in order not to mess up. She kept her eyes closed while healing him, not realizing that she had a pair of eyes watching. Once she felt satisfied, she opened her eyes, examining his hands to make sure nothing was missed, and then looked back at his face, startled that his eyes were open. They just stared at each other for a few minutes, before one of them decided to break the silence, "…thank you for healing my hands. They were stinging a bit."

* * *

"…thank you for healing my hands. They were stinging a bit." Sora had been startled when he felt his hands being held, waking him from his 10 minute nap or so. When he had opened his eyes, he had been surprised that Neko was there, with her hands glowing green. It looked like she was concentrating strongly since he could see a beet of sweat trickling down her brow. When she had finished and they had locked eyes, he was surprised that he felt nervous. He slowly got up and examined his hands. Once he was done, he looked back at her, "Why are you here by the way? Did you want to ask me something?"

Averting her eyes, she answered him, "well, I originally wanted to know if both you and Inu wanted to hang out, but Inu and you left right away. I was able to follow you since Inu seems to hide his chakra when he moves."

Sora snorted, "I bet he got tired from all those girls harassing him and, decided to mask his presence so he could avoid them. He may have a tough attitude, but I can understand not wanting to be bothered like that." Sora looked at her after speaking, and realized what her first sentence was. The feeling of nervousness coming back, he started scratching his head, "I don't mind hanging out, but I was planning to meet my group after the academy finished. If your okay with it, you could join us."

A small smile appeared to form on her face, "I would love that."

Nodding, Sora got up, held his hand out, and Neko took it. They started back to the village, chatting for a bit, before returning to the academy.

* * *

As Sora and Neko approached the academy, Sora saw Taichi (9 years old), Zono (10 years old), and Zed (11 years old) walking out and in were conversing that got all three of them to laugh.

"Yo, Taichi, Zono, Zed, over here" Sora called out and waved to them. All three turned their heads towards him, and ran up to him. They all brought their fists forward, and Sora bumped fist with each of them.

"Sora! We all thought that you would be busy today doing missions as a genin" Taichi said.

"Heh, well it was just meeting up today, tomorrow is the actual mission. By the way, this is one of my teammates, her name is Neko Kami. Neko, these are Taichi, Zed, and Zono Uchiha." Sora introduced to each other.

The three Uchiha's got a good look at her, then bowed, "It's an honor to meet you Neko Kami" the three of them said in unison.

"Hey" she waved off, "none of that, it's my pleasure to meet you all. Would you like to join us for some dango as a snack?" Neko polity asked.

The three of them looked at each other, and then looked at Sora, then smirked, "We would love to, but today were planning on studying for a test coming up. The test is to decide if were ready to continue to the next grade before the semester is called. Afterwards, we'll take you up on that offer" Zed said.

Sora had a sneaking suspicion that there was more to it than that, but he decided to look into it later.

"That's alright. Perhaps next time my other teammate will be with us when we all meet up" Neko said, watching them leave.

A silence that for once Sora didn't feel comfortable with, decided to take control, "So…do you want to perhaps hangout to get to know each other? I would ask Inu, but I think we need to cool off for today. Even if he did apologize, it looked like he was having a hard time admitting that he's wrong"

Neko just smiled and nodded. They both walked towards the dango shop.

* * *

"So you're the first ninja in the family?" Sora asked. The dango snacking and talking had been a real nice change. Not that he didn't like hanging out with his group, but speaking about something other than bringing honor to the clan was a nice.

"That's right. Neither my brother nor my dad ever had the desire. My mom encouraged me even though my dad didn't approve, but after she died, he attempted to have me removed. By then, it was too late, and the only way I could stop was by my own choice, not the choice of the guardian. My dad tried to get me to quit, but my brother stood up for me, saying if I truly wanted to become a ninja, than what kind of man would destroy ones dream. My mom said the exact same thing when I first declared that I wanted to become a ninja; that stopped him from pressuring me to quit, but he always wears this disappointment look on his face. Even after the graduation ceremony, only my brother showed up with his friends to celebrate, my dad didn't even say a word" Neko said, looking down with a sad face.

"I'm sorry, I never knew how hard it was for someone not part of a clan to become a ninja; for me, it's a given since I'm part of a clan, but my reason for being a ninja is different than why most of the clan choose to be. There's this rift between the Uchiha's and the village. I felt it based on how my parents spoke before they died, but when the group started hanging out in the village more, I thought to myself 'why is there such a rift in the first place?' The clan is part of the village, and as such, no one is going to say no to us if we want to see the village, and be part of whatever events that occurs. Everyone is actually friendly to us, and although I wasn't in the academy for long, my classmates were respectful for the most part, minus acting like kids, but so am I so why should I be complaining?" Sora says, trying to make light joking on the matter. It seemed to work; Neko was giggling a bit.

Before either of them knew it, they had reached her front porch. The nervousness that Sora thought had vanished had just returned tenfold, and was looking everywhere but at her.

Neko looked back at him, and knowing that her father won't be all smiles and fun like Sora had been, walks towards him, and gives him a gentle hug. This shocks him as he is unsure what's happening.

"Thanks for walking me back home Sora, you're a real nice guy. I know that Inu will change during our time as a team once he sees that you're just as hard working as all of us. I can't wait for tomorrow when we start our future as ninjas" Neko says, slowly letting go of him.

Sora, starting to turn red, nervously starts scratching the back of head, "hey, no worries that are what friends do, look out for each other. I'll prove it to the whole village that I care about them as much as I care about my clan" then Sora brings a more serious look onto his face, "I didn't say anything about my real dream, but it's because I first want to work on my main one. While I do want my clan to be open with the village, I wish to be hokage so the village will know that an Uchiha is no different from them. I have learned to enjoy this village, so if being a hokage will bring the clan closer, then that's what I'll do" he hears her laughing, and he shakes his fist, "Hey, I'm serious. Just keep watching me, and you'll see that I'll be the one to protect the village from danger; all of it."

Neko looked at him, and couldn't help but smile at the declaration, "okay, I will."

"Huh?" He stares, confused at her response.

"I said okay, I will. I will keep watching you, keeping both eyes open. If you plan on being hokage, then you'll need someone to patch you up after getting injured. Who else but someone who knows medical Ninjustu can do this?" After Neko said this, she waved and walked to her house, oblivious to the red look on Sora's face.

As Sora walked back to the district, he couldn't help but feel like his face was on fire, thinking of what she said in his head. 'She said she'll be watching me, keeping an eye on me. Why the hell does it feel like my face is on fire' he lightly slaps his face, and just focuses on making sure to be prepared for what's to come tomorrow. 'I really wish to talk to Shisui once the genin test is over; it's so not going to be cool if I don't figure out why I always feel nervous when Neko is around'.

* * *

Later that evening, as Itachi watched Sasuke sleeping, he was slowly starting to realize that the whole time-travel may not be as predictable as he thought when first arriving. His team, for example, were different from the team he had back in the past (not that he could remember them), and he wasn't such a loner this time around. Instead of just being simple friends with Shisu, and avoiding his clan all together, he tried to bring the other kids in the clan with him in hopes of fixing that broken bridge between the village and the clan. It was still too soon to meet up with Uzumaki Naruto since he was younger than Sasuke (by three months) and trying to get them both better prepared for the future. He would get Naruto to become friends with his brother should another failure of saving the clan occur. Itachi looks at his hands, remembering that no one else can see the ying and yang on his hands except for himself, and no one can use them except for his brother and Naruto.

Tomorrow will be the beginning of his ninja career for the second time, and he must keep on perfecting his skills so his physical energy can catch up with his spiritual one. He truly believes by making sure no one knows of his sharingan, he can at least avoid having his parent's think of him as an untouchable prodigy.

With one final look at Sauske, he heads to his own room, with no real hope of resting. 'Tomorrow, after the genin test, I should see if I can meet with my teams' families in order to strengthen my bond with them, before inviting them to my own home. I _will_ get tou-san to break out of that hatred.' And with that, he closed his eyes, praying for easy sleep tonight.

* * *

And that is that, there will be more action in the next chapter.

I appreciate those reviews that people has been posting, gives me a good idea how the story is doing.

I'll try to be earlier next week with the posting.

Cheers

P.S. there's a chance I might make some of the missions or training for Sora's team similar to Obito's team training.


	9. Chapter 9

Hi everyone

I'm Sorry for posting this chapter late, I was really Ill the past two days. Body felt heavy, and barely left the bed except for necessary purposes.

I still feel very week, but I can move and stomach things now.

I hope you guys like this chapter, I had to think a lot on what the genin test would be like. Not all tests are the bell test after all.

Enjoy, I don't own Naruto

* * *

Chapter 9

The next day came by quickly. Itachi woke up at 6:30, sleeping better than he had in a long time. Raising himself from his bed, he took a quick shower, made a light meal, and went to Sasuke's room before leaving. Watching Sasuke sleep, with his breathing even, put Itachi at ease. After the meeting yesterday, he and his team talked about their strengths and weaknesses. He wasn't too sure what the test would be about, but they all agreed that the three of them must do it together as a team.

Looking at Sasuke one last time, Itachi left the room, and made his way towards the training ground.

* * *

Upon arriving, he saw that he was the first one to arrive at training ground 10. It was 7:30 by now; therefore, the other two would be arriving shortly. He sat near one of the training posts, and began to get into a meditative state. He was a serious person, but had been slowly coming to grips that this early in his life were actually relaxing compared to what's to come. He had decided that apart from training, he would try to actually enjoy some of the events in the village. It wasn't that Itachi hadn't been enjoying himself before, but apart from hanging out with the group, and training, he hadn't really done anything else.

'Perhaps that train of thought should wait after the test. Once were a team, I shall seek Sora's team out for the two squads to get along with each other.'

In his meditative state, he began to sense a presence nearby, "Itachi, good morning."

Opening his eyes, he saw it was Takeru approaching him.

"Good morning Takeru. No sign of Hikari?" Itachi asked. The three had agreed that if they were going to be on a team, then first base names should use.

"Nah, she'll be here shortly though. Not one to be tardy for Hikari" Takeru laughed.

"I'm not one for what Takeru?" Hikari asked, showing up from behind.

"Oh, morning Hikari, I was just saying to Itachi that he shouldn't worry about you showing up late" Takeru said nervously, causing Itachi to smirk.

Hikari looked towards him, and gave her own greeting out, "Good morning Itachi-kun" Itachi nodded back to her.

"Well, I'm glad that all three of you are getting along so well. I have a feeling that today should be interesting at the very least" A voice came from up the trees.

All three raised their heads to see it was their sensei, Yamato Ishida.

'It looks like I need more practice in refining my senses for locating people nearby' Itachi thought.

Dropping down, Yamato looked at all three of them, before pulling out a scroll, "okay, listen up, this survival mission is going to compose of guarding this scroll from me. It's almost 8, so once it is 8, you'll have from now till noon to guard that scroll. If you still have it once it hits noon, you three pass. If I have it by the time it hits noon, you three will fail, and I'll decided whether you shall go back to the academy, or drop out altogether."

Throwing the scroll to Takeru, he made a sign with his hands, "There's a location that scroll needs to be delivered on the training grounds, but you need to figure that out on your own, the main goal will be to guard that scroll in 3, 2, 1" and with that he poofed out of the field.

Itachi walked to Takeru once he made sure, with his senses, that their sensei wasn't anywhere near by, "may I look at that scroll for a second?" He asked.

Takeru wordlessly handed him the scroll as Hikari made her way towards them.

Itachi looked at the scroll to see if something would catch his eyes.

"May I look at it Itachi-kun?" Hikari asked. Itachi gave it to her, knowing that they had until noon to find out where to deliver the scroll. 'It's best to see if they can figure it out first before I try' he wanted to do the work evenly with them, and trust that they can handle it, despite being fresh from the academy.

"I don't see anything but the kanji for 10 on their" Takeru complained.

"There's this photo on it if you look real closely though next to the 10 Takeru. It's just small so you have to pay close attention. What do you think it looks like Itachi-kun?" Hikari asked, returning the scroll back to him.

Itachi looked at where she said the picture was, and from the looks of it was a stone of some sort. A sudden idea occurred to him.

"When sensei gave us the scroll, where did he say it needed to be delivered?" He asked.

"He didn't say where, just that it had to be at the training grounds" Takreu answered.

"He said at the training grounds" Hikari's eyes widened at that, "he said training grounds. He didn't say it had to be training ground 10." This got Takeru to look surprised.

'It seems that Hikari's really good at looking under the surface at things' this would help during later missions, and perhaps the chunin exams in the future.

"Hang on, let me see that scroll again" Takeru said, taking the scroll from Itachi.

"That picture looks like a stone. I think I've seen this stone before, though I don't remember where it was located. I guess that means it's on one of the training fields yeah?" Takeru asked the two.

'Takeru isn't that bad at using his head, but I guess not as deep as Hikari' Itachi thought as he nodded to Takeru.

"So if this stone is at one of the training grounds, then there's a good chance that sensei is there to stop us from delivering the scroll and to steal it from us" Hikari concluded.

Seeing as it would be best to add his own input, Itachi spoke for tactics, "I believe so. He said our goal is to guard and deliver the scroll, so I think we should wait until the time is close to its end before we head out. He didn't say anything of stealing the scroll once we delivered it, so there's a chance he would still go for the scroll once delivered. Let's say we begin at 11 to head there, and for now we come up with plans on how to prevent him from taking the scroll from us. Prevent, not defeat, since that isn't in the mission" Itachi explained.

"Makes sense, there's no point in being hasty since that would ruin the purpose of protecting the scroll. And since he's a jonin, we really wouldn't stand a chance. Protecting and delivering the scroll is the focus, not beating the hell out of our sensei. Still, how will we prevent him from stealing it once we are close to our destination, and where is this stone located?" Takeru asked.

"I've been there before so I know where to go. Let's talk about what we should do if sensei is to confront us" Itachi said.

So the three began to talk and form some plans on how to complete the survival training.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sora's morning didn't start off as smoothly as Itachi's did. His sensei had told them to meet them at training ground 6 at 6 in the morning. That meant that Sora had to wake up at 4:30.

Sora likes waking up early since it means he can start training early, but 4:30 was defiantly not the time he would get up, thus making him groan, and trip on his feet, once he got out of bed.

'Erg, what's with our sensei making us get up so early in the morning. I hardly think most missions start at this time' and based on yesterday, sensei wouldn't take tardiness too lightly.

He took a quick shower, ate a light meal, and by 5:15, was out the door.

Upon reaching training ground 6, he spotted Inu sitting in a meditative state. Sora walked up and sat next to him, causing Inu to open his eyes, and turn his head towards him.

"Good morning" He said. Inu just nodded a greeting in return, and returned back to meditating.

Sora, who never meditated before, followed Inu's example, only to get bored five minutes later.

"Erg, how do you do that, it's so boring" he complained.

"By meditating, it helps you not react out of impulse, and making a stupid decision; like jumping on a desk to grab my front shirt for example" Inu said, still in that same spot.

If Sora wasn't awake from before, he certainly was now.

"Hey, you were the one that started that in the first place yesterday" Sora said, pointing at him.

"That isn't the point of what I was saying. I just mean that I have more control than impulse because I do this on a regular basis, which clearly you don't" Inu said in that calm form still.

Sora was going to retort, until a voice cut through the atmosphere, "Geez, don't tell me that you two are arguing already. It's not even 6 yet!"

Turning his head, he started feeling that nervous feeling upon seeing that it was Neko.

"Morning you two, I hope everything is in one piece yeah" Neko said.

Inu, no longer sitting with his eyes closed, stood up, and waved his hand.

"So, what do you think sensei has in store for us today?" Neko asked.

Inu just shrugged his shoulder. This was starting to annoy Sora, but he put it on hold to respond to Neko, "There's a good chance he'll want to test our skills, so perhaps we should discuss what we should do in order to fight him. You know, one does the distractions, while the other one takes him by surprise, for example."

"What do you mean one distracts him, while the other takes him by surprise?" Inu looked really confused.

Sora just blinked with a blank look for a second, before face palming, "Inu, you don't really think you can take our sensei on alone do you?"

"Why not, I'm the rookie of the year" was Inu's simple response.

"He's a Jonin. We're not even genin yet. No way will you be able to fight him on your own. Were a team, so let's stick together on this?" He said hopefully.

"I don't like you"

"And I don't like you"

"So why work together?"

"Because it will make things easier"

"That's not a reason"

"We won't always be working with people we like. What, are you going to demand the hokage to put you on a different team just because you don't like them?"

"Yes"

"He won't do that"

"Sure he will"

"Will both of you shut up!" Neko finally yelled out, startling the both of them.

"Inu, Sora, I don't care if neither of you like each other. We're all going to work together to pass; afterwards, you can deal with the after stuff. Unless you don't care of being genins this year, you will pretend to be best friends. I certainly don't want to wait an extra year to become a genin" Neko said, shaking her fists at them.

Both Inu and Sora glared at each other for a second, before turning away from each other.

"Well, this is certainly proof that you guys are not tardy in any way" turning their heads, all three saw that it was Daru Jyinue.

"It isn't 6 yet, but that just means there's time for me to explain the survival mission to you before we begin" their sensei said.

"So what is it sensei, what do we have to do to prove were able to be ninja?" Sora asked, eager to begin.

"Now, now, let's not jump the gun; first let me explain the rules. The mission will be going until 8. Afterwards, if you pass, I'll evaluate all three of you in order to see where you guys stand out" stating this, took a scroll from his pocket to show the group.

"The mission is to retrieve this scroll from me before time runs out. You can do this in any way you'd like, full intent on killing me if necessary. If you guys retrieve it, then you pass, and if not, you fail. Whoever I believe did not do any true work, success or fail, will be tied up for the whole day, with no lunch" they saw only two bento boxes next to the wooden posts.

"Keep your minds open, and senses focused. I may attack back, or I may not. If you don't go full out on me, you won't get the scroll."

All three tensed at this, preparing to attack.

"On my mark in 3, 2, 1, go" and with that, all three of them scattered.

'Knew it, we will have to face him, better find the other two' he could only hope they would be accepting to help each other out. There was no telling what their sensei was capable of.

* * *

And there we go, Now for next week I will need to write actual fight scenes hehe.

I'm glad people like this story, and I'll continue to work to my best ability in writing skills.

Cheers


	10. Chapter 10

Hey guys

Just to let you all know, I was half asleep when I wrote this, so if there's a bunch of mistakes, please let me know.

This chapter focuses on Itachi's teams genin test.

It's longer than my usual chapters, but I tried to add as much description as possible since there are fight scenes in this one.

Enjoy

I don't own Naruto

* * *

Chapter 10

After team 10 had figured out the generics of the survival mission there sensei gave them, they decided to discuss with each other their abilities while waiting for the time to reach 11. Itachi had been surprised when Takeru had revealed that he was a sensor type. By wanting to be strong to protect his friends, Takeru came to a conclusion that he needed to know his friends chakra while in a battle. He had learned how to sense chakra by going to the library and practicing. It's how they knew their sensei wasn't anywhere close by. Takeru was also sufficient in trap making, the basics of seals, had decent taijustu, and the three ninjustu's from the academy.

Hikari had decent taijustu, great mind for strategy making, and basics of medical ninjustu along with the three academy ninjustu's.

Itachi chose to keep his abilities limited in knowledge to the two. He told them he had the fire ball ninjustu, along with the three academy ninjustu's, and skilled in taijustu. He also decided to tell them that he knew how to dispel genjustu, but didn't mention about knowing how to create it.

Afterwards, they discussed the strategy to use for scenarios against their sensei; Takeru had begun to prepare some of his seals with the Kunai's. They would cause a smoke screen.

"Okay, its 10:30 right now. I suggest we start heading towards where this stone is. Itachi, you said you knew where it is? Takeru asked.

"It's at training ground 7. Takeru, I think you should be in front while I and Hikari have a slight distance from you. You can warn us if sensei is about to attack" Itachi said.

"I agree, especially since Hikari is our medic; we got to make sure she's safe from sensei. Hikari should carry the scroll" Takeru agreed.

Hikari, shaking her head, stated her disagreement, "No Takeru. Because I'm the medic of this team, he'll probably come after me first. Either you or Itachi-kun should carry it."

"But-

"Takeru, I think you should be the one; you can sense where he is. You would be able to evade him better" Itachi stated his reasoning.

Sighing, Takeru nodded, "Alright. Now that's taken care of, let us start this mission" and the three set out for training field 7.

* * *

Yamato Ishida was sitting on top of a tree near training field 7. He was a jonin, who recently resigned from anbu. Ever since he was young, Yamato was one of those kids that was too curious, and got too bored easily. Fortunate or unfortunate, he had quickly gone up the ranks due to the 3rd shinobi war, and he knew that war was never in anyway boring. As he grew up, he had taken up meditating to calm himself down, (the most frustrating hours of his life), therefore, his attention span had improved significantly. There would be moments when he couldn't keep focused, and today was one of them. The survival training had started at 8 in the morning, and yet it was almost 11. He was starting to wonder if perhaps the assignment he had given them might have been too hard.

'This will be the third time trying for a squad 'he thought. Just as he was about to start looking for them out of sheer boredom, he heard a twig snap. This set him high alert. He stayed very quiet as he used his senses to locate the sound. Another snap; it came from the left and he started setting off in that direction.

* * *

Snap! Another twig gave, "dammit, I wasn't trying to make noise" Takeru muttered.

"Speaking you 'weren't trying to make noise' doesn't help either" Itachi deadpanned as Hikari face palmed.

Takeru glared at the two before his eyes started to widen in horror, "Sensei is approaching to this location at a fast pace" this set the other two on alert.

"Okay, you know the plan. Takeru lets scatter" both Hikari and Takeru left, leaving Itachi to wait for their sensei to approach. One of the scenarios were if Sensei was to head for them from a distance, Takeru and Hikari would hide to prepare an ambush with traps while Itachi tries to stall for time before leading him towards the traps.

"Well now, it seems you guys went off in different locations, abandoning you in the process. I guess you're going to be my first opponent for the day" Yamato-sensei made his appearance looking like an excited kid ready for a game.

'I guess to him this would be a game' a bunch of genins would be underestimated against an experienced jonin.

"It sure seems that way sensei" was Itachi's reply.

Itachi was going to speak more for time, but Yamato suddenly rushed forward, punching when he got close; Itachi had barely dodged it.

'This is going to be quite a challenge without the use of my Sharingan' Itachi thought as he tried blocking a kick to his side, only to be pushed several yards away from it.

"Kid, how on earth are you going to stop this hatred from spreading if you can't even go head to head with me" Yamato said as he began to approach again for an attack.

Itachi quickly got up, and weaved the hand signs for his ninjustu, "fire style: fire ball justu" he blew as big a fire ball he could make.

Yamato's eyes widened at this as he made hand signs for his own ninjustu, "water style: water wall justu" a water shield appeared, holding off the fire ball with great difficulty.

'So young, and yet he can already do an affinity' he couldn't help but feel impressed that at age seven Itachi was already at a great advantage to most of his peers.

'It looks like my body still requires training' Itachi knew that his strength wouldn't be up to par until it had further physical training, but he still couldn't help but feel a tad disappointed.

"Itachi-kun" he looked to see Takeru drop next to him.

"Here" Takeru threw the scroll to him.

Itachi looked at Takeru, "you want me to leave" it wasn't a question.

"Go, me and Hikari will continue with the next stag while you head for the stone" nodding, Itachi quickly fled from the field.

'I will trust their skill for the next stage; sensei isn't going to kill us after all' Itachi thought as he quickly ran towards where he knew the memorial stone would be located.

* * *

Takeru kept track of both his sensei and Itachi's chakra. His sensei's chakra was in the same location within the smoke that came from the cancelling of fire and water attacks. Itachi's chakra kept getting further and further away.

'Okay, round two' Takeru began wrapping an explosive tag on one of his kunai. Once the smoke cleared, he quickly threw it where he felt his sensei's chakra was and activated the blast. His sensei's chakra immediately vanished.

'Substitution?' Takeru knew that attack wouldn't kill a jonin.

"Nice try kiddo, but you'll have to do better" a voice came from behind.

'Crap' was what he thought as a kick sent him flying towards a tree.

"You know, I didn't expect the switch up. I'm guessing then the female teammate has the scroll?" Yamato said, holding up a shuriken.

Getting up, Takeru wiped the blood that was under his lip, "maybe, maybe not, but you won't get an answer from me" and Takeru quickly sped towards the location where the traps were set up.

He sensed his sensei's chakra following him, coming faster than he had expected it to.

Once he saw one of his first traps, Takeru jumped up towards the tree and cut the rope, causing tons of shuriken to fly towards the direction where his sensei was coming from.

'Not bad kid, looks like this team had a plan beforehand' Yamato just kept on getting more impressed as he countered the shurikens with two of his kunai's in each hand.

Three shuriken flew towards Yamato, but when he hit them with his kunai it burst into smoke.

'A smokescreen?' Yamato thought. He didn't see any smoke bombs thrown at him with the shurikens though. Once the smoke cleared, Takeru was nowhere in sight.

'Damn, looks like these kids are more skilled than I thought. The fact he was able to set a trap in a short period of time is impressive' time was starting to run out, so he thought it would be best to finish quickly before the timer went off.

A sound came from the left and Yamato quickly ran towards it. He noticed another trap on the ground, and threw his kunai to unleash it. It was another bunch of shuriken, this time with paper bombs attached to them.

Jumping up in the air to avoid the explosion, he caught a glimpse of two kids running. He quickly threw his own shuriken at the two to prevent them from running any further as he landed. He pumped chakra into his legs to speed up to their location. Finding that his shuriken held them in place, he quickly knocked them out.

'Strange though; they seemed to know where I was located all the time' deciding that he would figure that piece of mystery later, he picked the two up, and headed towards where the third member would be if they figured out where the delivery of the scroll.

'I wonder how he's going to react once he finds out that his two comrades are at my mercy.'

* * *

Itachi found it suspicious that time was almost up, and yet his teammates were nowhere in sight. He heard the sounds of the fight, and the explosions. If everything went according to plan, then the two would have appeared while their sensei was still dealing with the traps in the forest.

'I have a feeling that something went wrong' and just as he thought that, he turned and blocked a shuriken with his kunai.

"I'm glad to see that you have quick reflexes; not that would have killed you, but you would have gotten a minor injury somewhere on that small body of yours" turning his head, he saw his sense, along with both of his comrades tied by a rope; they were unconscious.

"I must admit; at first I thought I made this test too hard, but I guess one of you managed to figure it out. Or you guys might have just done this out of sheer luck. Either way, I know you're the one with the scroll"

Itachi pulled out a kunai, ready for an attack, but his sensei just gave him a smile; an evil smile.

"Now, now, why should we fight when there are easier ways for me to get the scroll? There are five minutes left until the clock goes off, so I'm going to give you a choice: give me the scroll and I let your comrades go, or complete the mission and both of them die. Since this is my test I'm the rules, and I have full permission to use whatever means necessary. You have until the clock rings to make your choice" The killer intent had suddenly gone up, and Itachi was staring at his sensei's eyes. Had he indeed been a fresh genin, then he might have been a little scared of what was happening, but his previous life made him immune to such intent. Still, he knew that there was some meaning behind being given a choice, and the decision would decide whether the team would become genins or not. He decided to just stick with how he felt things should be opposed to what the rules were.

Itachi tossed the scroll to his sensei, "the lives of my comrades are far more valuable to me than the completion of a mission. I can fail a mission and work harder to do better next time, but I'll never be able to do the same if I lose one of my comrades"

Yamato Ishida was much to say, surprised; this genin, who had showed so much potential, and even came up with a coordinated strategy with the other two, was willing to give it up for his comrades. This was a first as the other two teams he tested in the past succeeded in the mission, but missed something when it came to the team overall.

'It seems there's more to this Uchiha than what meets the eye' he knew that the Uchiha's were prideful people, and yet this one showed more concern for his comrades than his mission.

Ring. Time was up. It was time to break the news to his genins; time to mess with their minds before giving them the decision.

"Alright, Itachi, follow me back to training ground 10. By then, these two will have woken up." The two made their way.

* * *

"Man, this sucks, why in the world are we tied up sensei. The missions over so you can release us" Takeru complained. His mood had dropped the moment he realized that the mission was a failure.

"No can do kiddo, both of you were caught, therefore, both of you have to suffer. Now, I have seen all I had to see of this group. Do you guys want to know why you failed? It's because little Itachi-chan here decided to abandon the mission to save you guys" this got the two to widen their eyes at that.

"How…?" Hikari was speechless.

"He gave me the scroll if I was to spare your lives. He said he would rather sacrifice the mission than his comrades" Yamato said

The two looked towards Itachi, who just had a blank face on; he was in actuality holding back a twitch from being called 'little'. He had a feeling that this jonin is one of the few who will be capable of getting on his nerves.

"So here's the choice I present to you; I will make the two of you genins but Itachi here has to quit as a ninja, or all three of you will return to the academy and try again next year. What's it going to be?"

The two looked at each other, and then looked at Itachi.

Takeru was torn; on the one hand he would become a genin, but if he were honest with himself, his skills weren't up to par with Itachi's (even if he was younger than him).He knew he wouldn't be able to protect Hikari at his current level.

Hikari, on the other hand, had already made her decision; she had graduated early so waiting another year, no matter how disappointing it would be, would be fine.

"Well? You need to make quick decisions sometimes as a ninja, so right now give me your answer?"

The two looked at each other again, nodded, then looked back at their sensei, "We will return back to the academy" Hikari said.

Itachi felt his eyes widen slightly; many of their classmates that had graduated would never have taken that option.

"Oh? Your fine with waiting for a year" Yamato mocked.

"Yes, if Itachi wasn't willing to abandon us, then we shall not abandon him. We work well as a team and we will not join you if it means splitting from him" Takeru answered, coming to a decision.

"What makes him so special that you wouldn't ask for someone else?" Yamato asked.

"Because it's our first time working together, yet he already proved that he is loyal to us; while a mission is important sensei, I was taught that trust is a hard thing to give. Itachi proved that we can trust him" Takeru showed no hesitation with his explanation.

Yamato looked at all three, and shook his head. This is by far the most surprising, and interesting, team he tested; while the fact they worked so well was a bonus, they had achieved what he was looking for in the team.

"So that's your final answer?" He looked at the two; they both nodded.

"Well in that case, all three of you", he paused, to give off a suspense, "…Pass" The look of dumbfounded was priceless.

"Wait, what do you mean we pass? I thought you said that we were going to be sent back to the academy?" Takeru yelled out.

"Sorry but that was just a lie. See, while this survival test was to test out your skills, my main focus was something else entirely. I wanted to know if you guys could put your own interests on hold and work together. See teams are always in groups of three; missions are more successful, and where one teammate is weak in, the other can cover it. Of course, I was surprised that you Itachi would throw the mission away all together to save your comrades. None the less, all three of you showed that you can work well together. By the way, did you guys have a plan with this whole test?" Yamato asked.

"Hikari was the one who came up with the entire plan. She input my trap skills and Itachi's quick instincts into it" Takeru said with pride; Hikari just blushed.

"Well I'm very pleased. Starting tomorrow, team 10 will be doing missions together" Yamato cut the rope, releasing both Takeru and Hikari.

"Alright, meet here at 8 tomorrow. Ja ne" and with that their sensei's left.

"Yatta" both Hikari and Takeru jumped in the air cheering while Itachi just smirked.

Before he could announce that he was going to take off, both Takeru and Hikari stood on each side of him and linked their arms with his, "come on Itachi-kun, let's get something to eat in celebration" and before he could object, the two were dragging him into the village where the ramen stand was.

'Well I guess there's no rush to leave right now, might as well resign myself to my fate' Itachi thought. While the two continued to drag him, he wondered how Sora's was doing.

* * *

There we go, so you all know next week is Sora's turn.

I hope it was enjoyable this chapter, if you feel there are any mistakes, or if I could have added more to the chapter let me know.

I'm going to bed, too tired.

Cheers


	11. Chapter 11

hey guys

Just begin to accept that sometime i'll be late with the postings; life is starting to get busy again

This is probably my longest chapter I have written for this story. Sorry if it's too long

It is showing Sora's genin test.

Enjoy

Don't own Naruto

* * *

Chapter 11

Daru Jyinue was one of those jonin that took punctuality seriously. Back when he was a kid until sometime as a chunin, he thought a few minutes wouldn't make a difference. He gave up that train of thought when he lost a comrade by being late during a mission. Now, he would scold anyone who was ever tardy, especially on a mission, to make sure late habits didn't build. He relatively gets along with everyone he meets, but there's one Jonin that he refuses to work with at all times because he always seems to be not just a few minutes, but a few hours, late to whatever the occasion is.

It's why he likes the team he's been given so far; they've been on time (early) for the past two days, and he noticed that the boys were actually more than half an hour early for today's testing.

'I will be happy to know that they'll not be tardy towards any training or missions we go on' he thought as he heard the bushes from behind. He prepared a substitution as the weapons thrown at him made contact.

'Sigh, I hope this isn't how things will turn out for the rest of the two hours' many had failed in the past since he became a jonin. This team had already made a good impression on him and he was hoping that they don't disappoint him.

'Well, let's see the one who chose to attack me' and he proceeded to follow the lingering chakra into the trees.

* * *

"That idiot, I told him he couldn't fight a jonin on his own" Sora muttered angrily as he finally found where Inu was. For someone who came from the civilian family, he sure had a lot of stupid pride.

'Sign, better find Neko before helping Inu' he turned on his Sharingan to make sure no genjustu was portrayed before turning them off again.

As he made his way to the rustling of the bushes, he heard the sounds of weapons hitting a log. He was guessing that his sensei substituted to avoid being hit.

A scream made him quicken his pace. Reaching the destination, he saw Neko just standing still, her eyes looking glazed.

'Must be genjustu' he turned on his sharingan again. He saw that he was correct in guessing that she had been placed in genjustu. Walking up to her, he placed a hand on her forehead, and inserted a bit of his own chakra into her.

"Kai" Sora said. Neko's eyes went from glazed to clear, and she began to fall backwards. He quickly caught her in his arms.

Blushing, he gently started to shake her, "Neko, oi Neko, wake up we still have to complete the mission" This got her to open her eyes, and stare into his onyx eyes.

"S-Sora? I s-saw you d-d-die" she was starting to shake.

'I guess that's what the genjustu showed her' he thought as he awkwardly patted her back. This just got her to envelope him in a hug, making him fall backwards.

"Hey, I'm not dead. It was genjustu. Listen, the mission is still going on and Inu needs our help. I need your help okay?" Sora asked. He felt her nod as she let go of him; her face was starting to turn red from embarrassment.

"Okay first, we need to find him, and then make a distraction. He doesn't seem go after us if were nowhere near him" again Neko nodded as she got up, and started heading towards the direction where the sounds of the fight were.

"Wait up" Sora quickly shook off the flush in his face, and chased after her.

* * *

Inu was beginning to get frustrated. He thought that he caught his sensei off guard, but it looked like his sensei knew where he was the entire time. Once Inu saw the substitution, he immediately tensed, then heard the scream coming from the right.

'Damn, looks like he got Neko' just as he was going to head to her location, he saw his sensei from the side, and dodged the kunai that was thrown at him.

"Not bad reflexes kid, but what are you going to do now that one of your teammates are down for the count? You can't even rely on your medic to heal you should you get hurt" his sensei talked like he was talking about the weather.

"I'm different from the two, I won't need their help to defeat you" Inu said, getting into a fighting stance.

'Defeat me huh? And saying that he'll do it alone? I think he's forgetting the mission details' not that Daru was going to remind him; it just left him feeling disappointed. Arrogance was one of the ways a comrade could die on a mission.

Inu waited for a few seconds, as Daru landed on the ground, before spring into action. He slightly jumps a bit, and turns his body to kick. It's blocked and Inu twists to punch; his sensei used his right arm to block this time.

With Inu's left arm free, he quickly grabs a kunai to stab his sensei in the face, using his flexibility to his advantage, only for his sensei to twist his head to the side, and then throw him towards a tree. Inu's back hits hard as he slowly slides down.

'Urg that may leave a bruise' he felt liquid going down his back and he presumed it was blood.

"Well, I must say I'm impressed by your speed and flexibility, but you have no strength to back up any of your attacks. If you weren't so fast, your hits would be pointless" his sensei commented.

'That is the second time I've been told that my hits are weak' during the spars back at the academy, his attacks were always able to beat his classmates. During his fight with Sora, and even now with his sensei, it seemed to be nothing more than a tap to them.

He spat a bit of blood out as he struggled to stand up; his sensei was casually walking towards him with a kunai in his hand. Before his sensei could act though, a yell from above was heard.

Both looked up to see Sora soaring down, aiming for their sensei. Daru jumped out of the way, but stared at where Sora landed; the ground shook with long cracks on the ground. Smoke appeared all of a sudden, and Daru quickly jumped out of the way. Once it cleared up, he saw the two disappear.

'Well, at least Sora was smart enough to retreat then to take me on the way Inu tried' he decided to meditate until they attempted to attack him again.

* * *

"I told you not to take him on your own didn't I? He's a jonin" Sora said angrily as he covered their tracks, with Neko holding Inu by his side, as they jumped away from there sensei.

"Shut up" Inu said, but coughed a bit more blood once they landed a few meters away. He was feeling both stupid, and embarrassed, from the fight. He's never been beaten before, even when Sora had the upper hand yesterday, so he felt his ego take a hit.

"Sit down Inu and take off your shirt" Neko ordered; the two just stared at her as if she had grown another head.

Narrowing her eyes, she hit them on the head, "I saw the blood dripping onto the floor. Your back is injured and I need to heal it."

"Wouldn't hitting him on the head be counterproductive after saying that" Sora asked, just to raise his hands in defence when she glared at him.

Not wanting to be hit or glared at anymore, he took his shirt off, and turned his back towards her; his cheeks were burning with embarrassment.

Neko's hands began to glow green, and Inu began to feel the relief of the pain lessen on his back.

"It's only minor, but since I'm still practicing it may take about five to ten minutes to heal. It's already been 40 minutes since this test started. How are we going to get that scroll before times up?"

"We need a structure; I have my sharingan to at least read his moves, but I don't know if I'm fast enough should he choose to use taijustu on me. My ninjustu can catch him off guard, but it would only work once. Inu, did you figure out where the scroll was on his person?" Sora asked, thinking some more while waiting for an answer.

"….It's in his pouch on the left leg" he rudely answered. He was still sore that he was beaten so easily, but more embarrassed that he had to be rescued like that; he guessed being the rookie of the year didn't mean so much.

"Hey, if one thing came out of your fight with him it was you got to see his fighting style and how he reacts. On top of it, you figured out where he's hiding the scroll. Now we have to figure out how to get it off him" Neko said.

"Get it off him" Sora repeated to himself, then his eyes opened with realization, "Your right Neko; we don't have to beat him, just get the scroll off of him. Since he's a jonin, we stand no chance of winning against him, but since this is about retrieving the scroll, we may have a chance if we work together"

Inu just stared at Sora for a second, then face palmed his head and muttered "idiot" under his breath. Fortunately, Sora was too busy thinking of a plan to really hear his words.

"Okay, I have a plan. Inu, I am going to explain it to you, and you can explain to me if it works, or if there's some adjustments that could be made" Sora said.

"Plan from you?" Inu sneered as he turned his head away.

Sora was beginning to feel a vein pulsing on his left temple as his anger grew, "look, I don't know why you're an asshole, and I don't really care. You had your chance to fight sensei one-on-one, and failed. Now, try working with us this time, or were all going to fail and get sent back to the academy."

Inu, still looking away, caused Sora to grab him from the front of his shirt, and pull him towards him until they made eye contact.

"Sora, he's not fully healed yet" Neko said, but even she was starting to feel annoyed by Inu's attitude. She thought that after lunch yesterday things might improve a bit, but it seemed to be in vain.

"…Fine, what's your plan?" Inu finally gave in. Sora let go of his shirt as Neko continued from what she was doing before.

"So this is what I think…..

* * *

Daru was slowly becoming bored. It had been almost 30 minutes since the team had attempted anything, and he was wondering what they were doing.

A bush was heard rustling, and he quickly threw a shuriken in that direction, only to hear a thunk. Getting up to see, he saw a log.

'Substitution' was his thought as a shuriken was thrown in his direction. He blocked it and saw Sora on one side, and Inu on another.

"Well, it looks like you two are underestimating me" Daru said, though he was pleased to see that they were working together this time.

'Good, that's more like it' he thought as the two dashed towards him, ready to punch at the same time. Daru jumped in the air before they could make contact.

Sora, seeing this, quickly turned on his sharingan, and twisted as he began to pump chakra into his leg. Inu had purposely had jumped up a little before aiming for a punch, and once he landed on Sora's leg, Sora moved his leg upward to send Inu up in the air to meet with his sensei. It seemed that their sensei was surprised by this action.

Inu, despite knowing that was part of the plan, was still surprised that it worked. Their sensei sent a punch at him, and he blocked it, but was thrown back onto the ground. A poof sound was heard, and it turned out to be not Inu, but Neko instead.

'Henge' Daru thought as he landed back down. Sora threw a shuriken forward, and Daru just leaned slightly back, causing the shuriken to hit a tree from behind. He moved forward, only to feel something on his midsection. Before Daru could figure it out though, a blur with a kunai had sprinted to him, causing Daru to catch the hand.

'What's going on' he thought. Looking down, he saw a sebon stuck on his pouch.

'When did that get there?' before he could figure it out, Inu had screamed at Sora.

"Fire style: Fire streak jutsu" looking up, Daru saw that Sora had something in his mouth as he called the attack. A line of fire shot towards him as he pushed Inu's hand down, lying him flat on the floor, and he jumped out of the way, landing near the kunai where the fire had hit. He quickly made hand signs to use a water jutsu to extinguish the fire before the rest of the trees caught fire. Looking back, he saw all three of them standing next to each other, Sora still holding something between his teeth.

'Strings' it was a smart tactic. The string seemed to be made of material to prevent itself from being destroyed once it was set on fire.

"Well now, that was indeed a surprise. I never expected a genin to know an affinity. I guess the Uchiha name precedes you. And Sharingan as well, aren't you special?"

Observing the trio, it looked like they were panting slightly. He saw Inu close his hand into a fist, making his knuckles turn white.

'Jealousy? Well, I guess a friendly rival isn't such a bad thing' as he thought that, the bell went off.

"Well, it looks like you three fail. Now, I wonder who's going to be tied up" Daru said as he moved his hand to his pouch, only to not find it there.

"Looking for something sensei?" Neko said, holding up his pouch.

"How did you…?" he felt stunned. It's the first time one of the teams he tested actually got the pouch from him.

"Well, we have the scroll now; we pass right?" Sora asked.

"Oh, are you sure?" Daru asked them.

Frowning, Sora took the pouch from Neko, put his hand in the pouch, and pulled the scroll out, only to widen his eyes on what he saw.

"It's a henge" with his sharingan still on, he saw the chakra flowing through the henge scroll. Releasing the henge, it turned into a small wood with a tongue drawing on it.

"What the hell?" Inu burst out.

"I said it was your mission to retrieve the scroll, I didn't say that it would be easy" he explained as he showed the scroll in his hand.

"Now, as I was saying….

* * *

And that's how Sora found himself tied up to the middle post as the other two were sitting next to him.

"Well, I must say you're the first team to actually snatch my pouch from me, but in the end you failed to think if there might be a catch. A man, who infuriates me, had taught me that looking underneath the underneath is one of the key things a shinobi must come to read if he's ever to grow, which you guys clearly did not think of"

Sora looked down, feeling disappointed in himself; it was his plan, and he didn't think of a possibility that it may have been purposely set up like that to fool them.

"I am willing to give Inu and Neko another chance to try again with someone else, but Sora will have to quit as a shinobi" Daru said

That got Sora to widen his eyes as Neko gasped, and Inu yelled out, "Why does he have to quit as a shinobi sensei? He's good."

"That's not enough. From what I gather, you guys were following his plan, and it failed. Had it been on a real mission, that plan could have gotten one of you killed" Daru was starting to leak killing intent out.

"Just think about it. I'll go fetch someone else as you two eat some late breakfast. Don't bother feeding Sora, he won't need it. If I see either one of you feeding him, then I'll not even consider giving you guys a chance. I'm the rules got it?" And with that he disappeared.

Sora began to feel like a failure; he just wanted to make his parents proud, even if there no longer alive, and now it looked like nothing but disappointment will be with him for the rest of his life.

"Screw it" Sora heard Inu say, and when he turned his head, he saw a bento box in front of him.

"Inu what…

"I won't let you go hungry, nor will I allow you to be banished from being a shinobi. Sensei seems like a bully, so I'll complain to the hokage as much as I can until he gets us a different sensei. I don't want a sensei that bullies others; were not enemies. Plus, if there's anyone who should be back at the academy or quit, it should be me. I told you yesterday by not giving into arrogance you can get strong, and yet I did the complete opposite today because I wanted to prove a civilian could be better than someone from a clan; I'm a hypocrite" Inu says, averting his eyes.

"Inu, it's ok-

"He's right Sora", Neko said cutting him off, "I don't want him as a sensei if he would bully you like this. Plus, even if we failed, we were still successful in the plan. I don't want him to replace you. Now, open up" she grabbed a piece of egg, and held it up to him.

He felt his face and eyes burn; face from being fed, and eyes because they were willing to stick up for him.

"Thanks guys" and Sora opened his mouth, eating the offered food.

"Is this the thanks I get?" A loud voice yelled out, revealing to the group that Daru had showed up.

Sora was going to make an excuse for the two, but Inu just yelled out first, "What thanks? I don't care if you're giving me and Neko a second chance. You're just a bully sensei and I won't have anyone else but Sora as my teammate; I trust him."

"You trust him, over me? And you too Neko?" Daru furiously asked the female teammate.

Shaking, but determined, she let out her voice, "Yes. He came to help me after you placed a genjustu on me. If anything, it's you I don't trust sensei; you never told us anything but your name!"

"I see, well if that's your final answer, then there's only one thing to do."

All three tensed as he walked closer to them, "The three of you…..pass" and just like that the killer intent vanished in an instant.

"…..Nani?" All three proclaimed as they realized what their sensei just said.

"I said you three passed. You guys had actually already passed the moment you snatched my pouch, but I wanted to see how you guys would handle a difficult situation. So not only do you pass, but you pass with flying colors."

All three of them had a dumbfounded look on their face.

"Remember what I said that there was an infuriating man that taught me to look underneath the underneath? Well, he taught me something else that I whole hardy agree with; those that break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their friends are lower than trash. Sora, you went to help your comrades without any hesitation, and both Inu and Neko were prepared to lose their chance of becoming genin for your sake. That tells me that whatever obstacles come our way, I know you three will be able to look after one another" walking to cut the ropes holding Sora, he states he has to report to the hokage, and leaves.

The three are quiet for a few moments, and then Sora jumps up in the air.

"We pass. I don't care if I'm acting stupid; this is one of the best days of my life" Sora yells out. Neko just giggles and Inu gives off a smirk.

"C'mon guys, let's get some dango as a celebration" Sora begins to pull them by their arms, grinning ear to ear.

"We had some yesterday. We need to change food consumption everyday"

"Don't pull so hard Sora, I still feel sore from that last attack"

He wasn't paying attention; he couldn't wait to find Itachi and Shisui to give them the good news.

* * *

That's a wrap

So I proof read this chapter 3 times, but there's only so much one can correct.

Please let me know if anythings off place, i'll fix it

Cheers


	12. Chapter 12

Hey everyone

First off, I would like to thank those that have personally favored me and not just my stories. I didn't expect that at all, nor did I expect this to be my best story out of the 4 I'm writing.

Second, i can't belive that despite so little chapters, i've reached close to 5,000 traffic. It's amazing how not far behind the traffic is with my Slowly getting there story is.

The next couple of chapters will be focused on Itachi's point of view. I know some people might get annoyed if not mentioned so I'll be doing that for now on.

I've doubled checked for this chapter, but don't be afraid to let me know if I've missed some in.

Enjoy

I don't own Naruto

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Chapter 12

Four months have passed since the genin exam, and like Itachi thought, it was just a bunch of D-rank missions, with perhaps one C-rank each month after two months. He had learned a lot about his teammates and sensei.

Both of his teammates seemed to hold some sort of affection for each other, but considering they're age, they didn't appear notice anything out of the ordinary. Also, not only did Hikari have really good chakra control, but Takreu did as well. Along with traps, and chakra sensing, he was beginning to read up on genjustu. Usually those who have really good chakra control are specialised in either genjustu or medical justu. Since Hikari was focused on Medical ninjustu, he picked genjutsu. What he discovered about his sensei was that he was just as energetic as Might Guy from his time. While he didn't scream out youth, or made impossible tasks, Yamato-sensei was upbeat, and would challenge them in different ways during a D-rank mission to make it more of a training program, rather than a mission. Itachi didn't mind that part since he felt that apart from team building, the D-ranks were pointless. Their routine would be meeting at 8 in the morning, doing warmups and a bunch of physical exercises, resting for an hour, then doing a mission or two (sometimes three) until it was almost 5. Itachi thought that since his body was so young, it was a good thing to get as much physical training from his sensei, while training with his ninjustu on his own; he had gotten use to the weights on his body and upgraded them.

Shisui has been out more often lately with missions, and Itachi only have been meeting with the other three kids from the clan on his days off. Sometimes they would visit, but that in itself was a rarity. Sora and his team seemed just as much enthused about D-rank missions as his team was.

"Alright guys, I'm going to teach you something different today since I feel like your stamina may be enough to handle this exercise" Yamato-sensei stated.

"Something..'Pant'…Different sensei?" Takeru breathily said.

"Yes, I believe it's time I start training you guys in the chakra control exercise. Since there's a good chance the next C-rank mission will be out of the village this time, it's best to make you learn better control in using chakra" their sensei said.

"But…hah….aren't we already doing that sensei" Hikari breathes out.

"Yes, but it's not enough. Today, I'll be showing you how to climb on trees" he says.

Both Hikari and Takeru stared blankly at him, while Itachi wondered if he should elaborate.

Yamato, seeing their expressions, decided to demonstrate what he meant. He walked towards the tree, and then started walking upwards. Once he reached a branch, he walked it upside down.

Looking back at his genins, he gets the expression he wanted from both Hikari and Takeru, but Itachi's looked bored.

"Itachi, do you know how to do this already?" Yamato asks.

"Hai sensei, along with water walking" Itachi explained, figuring that there was no point in lying to any of them.

All three had a look of surprise on their faces, "Did you learn from your clan Itachi?" Yamato asked.

"Hai, Shisui, my cousin, showed me" He lied smoothly.

"Well, I suppose since you know what to do, you can stick around to keep an eye on these two. I have to go meet the hokage" He said as he vanished.

Itachi was slowly gaining a twich in his eye every time his sensei would do that; it wasn't the first time their sensei would leave them alone during training time, and he didn't mind sticking around to help, but he seemed bipolar that one moment he's energetic like Might Guy, then Lazy like Kakashi Hatake.

"Ummm, what do we need to do first Itachi-kun?" Hikari asked him.

He was about to respond, but held off for a second. His parents hadn't yet met his team, and he still hadn't met his teammate's family. He supposed now was a better time than any.

"How would you guys like to come to the Uchiha district to train? There's a training field around there so while you guys are training, I can work on something else" He asked them.

They both had a surprised look on their faces, but Takeru's quickly switched from one to excitement, "I think that's great; it will be the first time meeting your parents so this kills two birds with one stone."

Nodding, he began to walk towards his home.

"Hey, wait for us" and the two chased after the youngest teammate on team 10.

* * *

"This is Hikari and Takeru. They are my teammates from team 10. Sensei had to leave early so I thought they could train with me in the backyard" Itachi said to his mom.

Mikoto was surprised that her son brought them to the Uchiha grounds, but smiled at seeing them, "it's a pleasure to meet you Hikari-chan, Takeru-kun. Please go right ahead." The two bowed, and proceeded to the backyard.

"Itachi-chan" Itachi stopped mid-step and looked at his kaa-san, "what brought on bringing them to the district; you could have just trained at the training grounds."

"There my teammates, and also friends; I didn't know there would be a problem in inviting my friends over kaa-san" Itachi said to his mom.

Surprised to hear him say friends, she quickly shook her head, "No, no problem, just wondered why you brought them here instead of training on the training grounds."

"…I wanted them to meet the family; since we're a team now, it's best to get along with each other. I know Hikari wishes for me and Takeru to go to her house for dinner soon" Itachi said.

"Well, how about you ask them to come over for dinner after training. It's going to be at 8 today since your father is running a little late" Mikoto said.

Itachi was startled that his mom would ask right away; he thought that he might need to persuade her in agreeing for them to come over.

"Sure" was all he said before joining his teammates outside. Perhaps things wouldn't be as difficult as he first thought if his mom was accepting his teammates without a second thought.

* * *

"Hah, hah, Itachi, how in the world did you manage to do this? I'm really tired already from the physical training sensei had us do this morning, and I can't get past the ¾ mark!" Takeru complained, looking up at his tree. Itachi has only seen Takeru frustrated a couple of times since becoming genin, and this defiantly was what he would call frustrated.

A giggle could be heard from above them. Hikari was watching them, sitting on a branch, with an amused smile on her face. It had only taken her about five tries before she reached the top (she had been just as tired as Takeru from the training this morning).

"It's not funny Hikari! I want to be done with this tree already" Takeru complained, throwing his kunai at the tree.

"Maybe you could ask the tree to let you climb past the mark. I'm sure it's only teasing you" Hikari giggled.

"Hikari"

Sighing, Itachi leaned back as he watched his teammates tease each other. After explaining what to do for the tree exercise, he had gone to the lake. He didn't really expect either of them to complete the exercise today, so he had gone to practice other fire techniques since his father wasn't at home. Only an hour ago did he exhaust himself? And it was to be said, surprising that Hikari had finished in less than an hour, and Takeru had more than completed halfway.

Takeru finally collapsed on the ground, panting, "That's it; I'm too exhausted to continue"

"It sure seems like it" turning around, he saw the person that spoke; Zed. Zono and Tachi were right behind him.

"Hey Itachi, your mother said you were here. It looks like the three of you are about to collapse, one already has it seems" Tachi said.

"Zono, Zed, Tachi, these are my teammates Hikari and Takeru. We've been doing the tree chakra exercise today" Itachi answered.

"Really? Is that genin stuff then? The only chakra exercises we do are that stupid leaf on the head one" Zed said with a frown.

"I agree with you there, it's boring alright" Takeru answered, getting up after catching his wind, while Hikari jumped down from the branch.

"Hey, you guys were in my class before graduating right? I'm Zono. How is being a genin, especially with a non-talker like this one" Zono asked, using his thumb to point at Itachi. Itachi just shrugged.

"He's gotten better, although were still trying to get him to smile" Hikari said, joining in the conversation.

"Really, now this is news, how come you never talked much when you and Sora were still at the academy?" Tachi asked.

"I only talk when it's required" Itachi said. Everyone laughed.

"So, how does this training work? It can't be that hard" Zed asked.

Itachi was going to say to finish the leaf exercise first before doing this one, but the look Takeru gave Hikari made him stay quiet.

"Well here's the thing….

* * *

An hour later, Tachi, Zono, and Zed left, looking both angry, and embarrassed. They left with promises that the next time they come over, they would have the tree exercise mastered. Neither of the three managed to take more than ten steps most before falling, and they got tired out faster than what Itachi was used to seeing.

"Itachi-chan, can you and your friends wash your hands. Dinner is almost done"

All three got up, and entered the household. Sasuke was in the kitchen, starting to walk much faster than before, and it wouldn't be long until he began running. Itachi couldn't help but let out a little smile at seeing his brother so carefree, opposed to the pained look he got accustomed to in his time.

"Itachi-kun, is that your little brother? He's so cute!" Hikari squealed, running up to Sasuke.

"Sigh, now she won't stop playing with him; Hikari loves taking pictures of kids. She says she likes catching a portrait of their innocence since most of us tend to lose it when we become ninja" Takeru explained.

"Chi!" He heard his brother call out as he saw him walking fast towards him, Hikari in tow.

"Hi Sasuke, are you having fun? This is Hikari, and Takeru; their staying for dinner today" Itachi said, picking his brother up.

"Itachi-chan, you're still dirty from training. Please wash your hands before picking up your brother" his kaa-san called out; both Takeru and Hikari snickered at this.

"Hai Kaa-san" Itachi said, placing his brother down, and leading his teammates to the sinks where the kitchen was.

"Itachi-kun, your mother is really pretty" Hikari said.

Itachi didn't disagree with that; from the photos his kaa-san has around the house, showing her when she was younger, to the present; she's always remained pretty since each one has a smile in them. The only time he saw no smile was the day he decided to pick the village over his family.

"Itachi, you okay? You have this really serious face on" Takeru said, looking concerned.

Shaking his head, Itachi moved out of the way to let the two wash their hands. It still was too soon before Sasuke and Naruto were old enough to meet and become friends, so for now he had to focus on his family and the village coming together.

He heard the door open, and in came Shisui, with his usual grin.

"Shi" Sasuke cried out, speed walking toward Shisui.

"Hey there little guy, getting faster I see. Pretty soon you'll be able to out speed that brother of yours" Shisui said, picking up Sasuke.

"Shisui-kun, if you're just returning back from a mission, I suggest you wash your hands first before picking up Sasuke-chan" Mikoto scolded.

"Sheesh, you think a little dirt will kill this one? He will be the strongest one yet, I guarantee it" Shisui laughed, but put Sasuke down, and made his way towards us.

"Hey, I see she made you guy wash your hands too?" Shisui said, putting his hands in the water.

"I thought you were on a mission? Did you finish early?" Takeru asked.

"Yeah, we had misinformation so the rules of the mission changed a bit. Sorry, can't tell you about it, not that I truly get it myself" Shisui answered.

Shisui had met Hikari and Takeru, along with Sora's team, within the first month. Takeru and Shisui got along very well, and would get scolded a lot by Hikari when the two would get carried away by something she disapproved of.

"So, what kind of mission did you guys do today? Weeding? Litter picking? Or how about chasing that demon cat?" Shisui grinned at that last one.

"None of those; we did tree climbing today. I finished it and Takeru is nearly done. He'll probably finish it tomorrow" Hikari answered.

Shisui raised an eyebrow at that and turned to Itachi. Itachi just shrugged; he didn't really remember much of how genin life was since the majority was focused on being a double agent between the clan and Konoha once becoming chunin.

"That's pretty impressive you two; it took me nearly a week to complete that stupid tree training, then again, I had terrible chakra control back then. I didn't see the point until I made chunin" Shisui answered.

"So, Shisui-kun, are you joining us for dinner today?" Mikoto called out.

"Sure, I don't mind, and who knows, maybe I'll be able to make the atmosphere less tense around your husband" Shisui gave a cheeky grin.

"I certainly do not want that attitude around if you wish to join us Shisui" Shisui jumped, turning to see it was Fugakue.

"Welcome home tou-san; I invited my teammates to join us today since we were going to be training late, and kaa-san said it was okay" Itachi said, giving a little bow.

"Pleasure to meet you Uchiha-san" Hikari and Takeru said, bowing at the same time. Shisui held back a snort.

Nodding, he gave a look to Itachi, and then to his wife, before walking towards the dinner table. Already a tension was building before they even had a chance to sit down.

"Make sure to wash your hands first dear; you need to give those kids a good example" and then the tension broke.

This just got Hikari, Takeru, and Shisui to laugh, with Itachi smirking. It was time for dinner.

* * *

And done

I was reading the story and realized while I'm making good progress in the characters and reminders of the goal for Itachi, I forgot to add a bit of humor a bit to the story. So, Knowing that Shisui is jokes most of the time, figured I should start adding a bit more when required. Sora seems funny with his team, but Itachi's just seems to lack it.

Cheers


	13. Chapter 13

Hi everyone

well, I hope everyone's enjoying the summer.

Here's the next chapter, I hope it's not starting to get boring, I know there hasn't been much action lately, I assure theres more coming soon.

Enjoy

I Don't own Naruto

* * *

Chapter 13

"Sasuke-chan, please settle down and take every mouthful easy" Mikoto said. Sasuke was currently sitting next to his mom and Itachi on a high chair. He was so excited with the big group sitting on the table that he couldn't sit still. He kept pointing and yelling out 'chi' or 'shi' or just point at the two new people he's never seen before.

Itachi for the most part kept a smirk on his face; the Sasuke of his time would have blown a vessel if he could see how he acted as a child.

Shisui had been keeping the conversation going, with mostly Takeru asking questions; Hikari and Mikoto were talking of a different topic. She was trying to get a better understanding of Itachi's teammates, and the two had good table manners, with being polite as possible. When Shisui would talk though, the two would relax, and start talking back to Mikoto with less tenseness in their shoulders. Fugaku just remained quiet, eating with well manners, and would only flicker his eyes to Mikoto or Shisui every now and then.

Itachi didn't want his father to remain quiet for the whole dinner; he wanted to get him involved a bit into the conversation to learn a bit of his team, either directly or indirectly, to build a connection with the village. Itachi decided that he would have to be the one to start the talking in order to get his father to speak, "Tou-san, how was work today?"

"Relatively slow, but there was a commotion with the civilians so we needed to take time to sort things out" Fugaku never took his eyes off his plate.

"Commotion, you mean there was a drunk fight or something sir?" Takeru asked, going back to polite talking.

This got Fugaku's eyebrows to rise, but he responded none the less, "Yes, not too sure how the fight broke out, but the two were quite intoxicated. We placed them in separate cells until they passed out, and then sent them to their families with a report on what took place. I'm surprised you know about these things"

Itachi saw Hikari shoot a worried glance at Takeru, but Takeru just shrugged, "My father has gotten into some of those sometimes."

This got everyone quiet, focusing on Takeru. Takeru notices the attention he's getting, and continues where he left off, "my uncle was only 19 when the nine tails attack happened last year. Ever since then, if my dad isn't on a mission, he goes to the bar and gets drunk. Sometimes he doesn't come home that night, and sometimes he's brought home by others. My dad had pretty much raised my uncle, so he took his death hard."

"Does he hit you?" Shisui suddenly said all humor in his eyes gone.

Takeru stiffens at this, but answers, "no, but he might have to my kaa-san. I'm not sure; she tends to tell me to stay out as long as possible whenever my tou-san is home."

"Is he home now Takeru-kun" Mikoto asks.

He shakes his head, "No, he's been on a mission for two weeks. Not sure when he'll return."

"What's his statue in terms of rank?" Fugaku asked.

"He's anbu level sir" Takeru responds.

Fugaku nods, but doesn't speak any further. The rest of dinner goes in silence, even Sasuke seems to quiet down.

After dinner, Hikari and Takeru volunteer to help out with the dishes, but Mikoto just shakes her head, "No, it's quite alright. More importantly though, the two of you should head home; it's dark already."

"I'll get them home. Come on you two" Shisui says, getting Hikari and Takeru to follow after him.

"By Itachi-kun; we'll see you tomorrow" Hikari says as Takeru just waves goodbye. Itachi returns the wave.

"Itachi-chan, do you think you could wash your brother and put him to bed?" Mikoto asks Itachi.

Nodding, he picks Sasuke up, who just responds with an 'Ita' and walks upstairs. He had a lot to think about what he had heard tonight. Takeru never showed up with bruises, so he could believe that his father never hit him, but Takeru never once showed any distress of the situation, just like at the dinner table. He wondered if the joking and happy appearance was an act, or was real.

* * *

Mikoto was barely holding the dishes without dropping them, shaking. What the shaking was from was pure fury. Sometimes she would hear how the Uchiha clan was complained about a few times from Fugaku, how they had all their members because they 'hid' from the fight of the nine-tails. It was the first time she tried to picture it from the citizens and ninjas perspective that had lost someone.

"Mikoto, you're shaking. What's wrong?" It was one of the few times where Fugaku would drop his hard face into a bit of concern.

Shaking her head, she turned to look at him, "I just can't understand how someone can do that to their own family. When Minato lost both Obito and Rin, he was sad, but he didn't collapse and give up. Even Kushina, who favoured Obito, pushed forward. That boy, Takeru, has both of his parents, but his father drowns in grief, and possibly puts harm both mentally and physically on his family instead of letting them help him back. I know we've been accused a few times for not helping with the fight that day, but tonight was the first time I saw it from their perspective; people who've felt loss for at least one person during that day, while the rest of our clan didn't lose anyone. It would leave them feeling bitter towards us."

"It doesn't excuse their actions towards us Mikoto" Fugaku responds.

"No, it doesn't. But now, at least I have a bit of understanding."

"It changes nothing-

"But it does!" Mikoto shot back, her voice rising a bit, "our son doesn't see it the way you do Fugaku. When he brought them over, he called them his friends. Even the other kids from our clan like them. He didn't understand my hesitation even though he could tell that I was hesitant about it. He probably can feel the distance between us and the village. Our son mostly spends his time in the village than with us. He's even tried to invite us to go to places there. I think that's how the majority of the kids in our clan view it as well."

Fugaku's face hardened at that "He'll understand when he's older; he will see how were treated by the village."

"And then what? You think he'll hate the village? Or hate our clan? He's attempting people from our clan, us more than once, to join the event's that happen in the village. We may be pushed to a distance from the village, but were not imprisoned to go to the village like most of the clan seems to feel. I think that's what makes Itachi unique; he's not afraid to know the village the way we seem to be" Mikoto's shaking more, close to crying at this point.

Fugaku just stays quiet, until steps could be heard coming down.

The two of them turn their heads to see Itachi walking down, "Sasuke is asleep Kaa-san. After the bath he fell asleep as soon as he hit the crib."

Nodding, Mikoto makes a beeline upstairs before she would collapse right there and then.

It just left the two of them alone.

"Itachi, please sit with me, I wish to talk to you" Fugaku said.

Itachi walked down, and went to sit where his Tou-san was.

"Itachi, were you the one who invited those two into our house?" Fugaku asked.

"Hai Tou-san; our sensei left early, leaving us to learn the tree climbing exercise by ourselves. Since it was still early I figured we would just practice in the back yard since it would be more private then in the training grounds."

Fugaku nodded at this, but continued his questions none the less, "Why did you invite them to dinner though?"

"I wasn't planning on inviting them today for dinner, but Kaa-san said it wouldn't be a problem. I had thought the next few days when we had our day off so we wouldn't be so worn out."

"Why did you want to invite them?"

"Because their my teammates and friends", Fugaku stiffened at this but Itachi kept going, "were going to be together for a while so I thought it would be best if our families got to know each other. I didn't know that Takeru had that kind of situation happening at his house though. It's no wonder he didn't want us to come over; I've only been to Hikari's. She wishes to invite me and Takeru to her house for the next dinner meeting."

"Friends" Fugaku mutters.

"Friends; I like both of them, and whenever were on a mission, they always look out for me. Whether it's because I'm the youngest on the team, or because they see me as their friend as well, it's thanks to them that I've gotten stronger and less injured during missions."

Fugaku stayed quiet for a while, then asked, "What would you do if either one of them died?"

Itachi's eyes widened slightly, but turned a bit hard, "that won't happen. I won't let my comrades die."

Fugaku was a bit caught off guard by this, but the look in his son's eye told him everything he had to know, "It's late, head to bed for the night."

Itachi excused himself, and then walked up. Fugaku stayed downstairs for another hour or so, mulling over what happened tonight.

He knew that Itachi was no ordinary Uchiha, especially one that had seen war at the small age of four, but he didn't expect to see eyes of one who's known loss. His son was calm and calculative, but tonight he saw the sheer determination he hadn't expected to see. Itachi had meant it when he said he wouldn't let his comrades die. Itachi would probably sacrifice his own life if he could protect them. It told him that he would need to truly sit down with Itachi's team, and get to know what their skills were since Itachi's life would be in their hands.

It also told him something else as well; Mikoto was right. Itachi not only doesn't see it the way most of the people of the clan does, but what more, Itachi cares about the people of the village. And to Fugaku, he didn't know if that was dangerous, or an opportunity.

* * *

Itachi lied in his bed, thinking about the turn of events during dinner time. He had not known about Takeru's situation at all, nor did it occur to him to figure it out. It seemed that it wasn't just himself that was thinking about it; he had heard everything that had been said with his parents with his shadow clone. His Kaa-san had also expressed some bottled up emotions that he hadn't been expecting at all. It made Itachi also see it from their perspective, and convinced him all the more that the clan should connect with the village. He had to remember to talk to Shisui sometime tomorrow, see if he talked anymore with Takeru.

The talk he had with his father though was one he wasn't expecting. Itachi didn't know if his father would actually try to harm his teammates or not after their conversation. He had noticed the stiffening when he had mentioned that they were his friends, and not just his teammates.

'Perhaps I should invite them often when tou-san is around. The boiling frog theory may be of use in this situation'

"Psst, Itachi; you still awake?" The voice near his window told him that Shisui had not told his parents about his return.

Getting up, Shisui chose to talk before he could even ask, "From what Takeru states, he's never been laid a hand on and I believe him. I chose to briefly talk with his Kaa-san a bit since he said his tou-san wasn't around. She seems mostly normal, but I did notice her rubbing her sides during our talk. I think his tou-san does hit his kaa-san. She is a citizen, not a ninja."

That got Itachi to sigh at that. He personally didn't know what to do about it. The Uchiha police can't just waltz into a household.

But that gave him another idea, he could try to see if perhaps Takeru could invite his family over for dinner when his father is around; tou-san might be able to do something about it then.

"I'm going to try and see when his Tou-san comes home. I think if we come over for dinner when his tou-san is home, maybe the uchiha police could do something about it" Itachi states.

"That might not be a bad idea. The thing is trying to convince both Takeru and his kaa-san about it. If they agree, then you'll just have to convince that hard father of yours to agree."

Itachi thought that too, but first step would be to see if Takeru would agree to it. His father still has a long way before losing that grudge, but maybe this may be a small hope to start convincing people the Uchiha clan truly cares about the citizens of Konoha.

* * *

And that's that.

For those of you who doesn't know the boil frog theory, i'll explain it:

If you throw a frog into hot water, it right away jumps out, but if you throw it in cold water, and let it slowly boil, its too late for the frog to realize what's going on.

Cheers everyone.


	14. Chapter 14

Hey everyone

I'm sorry that I didn't post last week.

My documents that I can post only goes to 50 max, and I had no space. I decided to take last week off.

Here's the next chapter, and I'm trying to move it faster, but these next few chapters won't be like that for awhile.

Anyways enjoy

I don't own Naruto

* * *

Chapter 14

It's been one week since the dinner at Itachi's house. So far Takeru's tou-san was still on a mission. The tree climbing exercise was completed the second day, and even though both Hikari and Takeru had wanted to practice the water walking exercise, the workouts their sensei would get them to do, and missions of two to three a day that had resumed, had made any additional training too exhausting.

Itachi had noticed his Tou-san keeping a closer eye on him whenever he was in the house. Itachi was certain it was because he had mentioned that he cared about his teammates. His Kaa-san had begun to ask him how his teammates and sensei was, and even though Itachi wanted to just keep his silence, he knew that his Kaa-san was being sincere in her questions, so he would tell her. Sasuke had finally managed to say 'Itachi' without the cut offs. His kaa-san was both ecstatic that Sasuke finally said his first word, but sad that it wasn't 'Kaa-san' or 'Tou-san'.

Sometime during the week, after their sensei had dismissed them for the day, Itachi had gone to locate Naruto. If Sasuke was able to talk and recognize people at this age, then perhaps Naruto would be able to, even if he's younger.

* * *

Itachi had located the orphanage that held Naruto. Although he couldn't simply just waltz in there and ask to see him, Itachi stated to the ones running the orphanage that he just wanted to look at the kids. He stated he felt there were some people that would adopt them. Itachi had found Naruto's crib far away from everyone else's sleeping place.

"It eats quite a lot doesn't it? That's only expected considering what it is" one of the workers whispered to one another.

"Don't worry about that one, would you like to see everyone else?" one of the people who ran the orphanage had said. Apparently Itachi had been staring at Narruto's direction.

He was surprised, even though he shouldn't have been, that even at the age of one Naruto was getting treated the way most jinjuriki's do; no one went to Naruto when he started crying.

Itachi ignored the people and went to see Naruto for himself. Naruto had stopped crying once he had spotted Itachi, and tried to reach for him since he couldn't crawl up the crib. Itachi carefully picked up Naruto, and Naruto had automatically started to smile and giggle. It was as Itachi suspected; Naruto had just wanted attention.

"How did you get it to stop crying? We usually just leave it alone until it tires itself out from crying" one of the people had asked.

"I have a brother about his age. All he wanted was some attention and that's why he stopped. You see, he's smiling and laughing" and no doubt Naruto was giggling and pointing at the two that had approached Itachi.

Itachi looked, and saw the look they were giving Naruto; the look of wanting him to disappear. It amazed him how Naruto had to live with people looking at him the way they do, and still chose to care for the village instead of wanting revenge the way his brother had.

He gently rocked Naruto, the way he would with Sasuke, and Naruto drifted off. He gently placed him back in his crib.

"Finally some peace and quiet from that crying it did. Thank you young man" one man said.

"What's his name?" Itachi asked.

"Who's name?" the lady asked.

"His" Itachi pointed towards Naruto.

The lady stiffened, but replied, " _Its_ name is Uzumaki Naruto. Is there anyone else you would like to see today?"

"No thank you. I will be coming by to visit when I get the time to" then Itachi turned towards Naruto, who was drooling in his sleep, "Bye for now little Naruto-kun."

After Itachi had left, he went to a shop close by to buy a small, orange, stuffed fox. He had it covered in a present form. Although Naruto never told Itachi, he guessed that orange may be his favourite color.

* * *

The next day was Itachi's day off with the team, and after some convincing to his Kaa-san, he took Sasuke with him to the village. Itachi was planning to visit Naruto with Sasuke this time. The present was being held by Sasuke.

It was the same people from yesterday. They seemed pretty surprised to see him again, but left him alone this time when Itachi went over to Naruto's crib.

"Hello Naruto-kun, how are you today?" Itachi said.

"Hi" Naruto was waving his arms around. It looked like Naruto knew some words after all.

"Hi" Sasuke decided to copy Naruto since Itachi's never heard him say that one before.

Naruto hit his chest, giggling, "Naruto, you?"

'It seems he is better at talking than Sasuke' Itachi thought.

"Skue" Sasuke said. Naruto is defiantly better at it than Sasuke.

"Skue?" Naruto was giggling.

"It's Sasuke Naruto-kun." Itachi decided to supply.

"Sasu-keee" Naruto tried to say, putting an emphasis on the ke.

"Hai, he has a little present for you. Go ahead and give it to him Sasuke" Sasuke looked like he was pouting, but followed his brother's advice and pushed the small bag with the gift inside it towards Naruto.

Naruto was observing the mini bag, then started shaking it, flipped it over for the orange fox to fall out.

"Whaaaa" Naruto cried out as he moved back for a second, then crawled forward and picked up the orange stuffed fox.

"It's a fox Naruto-kun, I hope you like it" Itachi said.

"Fo-oo-ox? Fox?" Naruto repeated.

"Yes, fox" Itachi said back.

"'ox ni?" Sasuke tried to say. Itachi was finding it so amusing at how Naruto seemed to pick up speaking better than Sasuke. He guessed it has to do with the people here not baby talking him the way his Kaa-san does to Sasuke.

"That was certainly kind of you Itachi-kun" Itachi turned his head to see it was the Hokage speaking to him.

"Hokage-sama" Itachi bowed.

"None of that; you're not on duty right now so just be casual. Anyways, how did you and young Naruto-kun meet? Seems strange for you to be visiting the orphanage on your day off" the third said as he approached the crib that both Naruto and Sasuke were in.

"Ojii! Fox" Naruto squeaked.

"It certainly is Naruto-kun, do you like it?" The third asked.

"Yes!" Naruto said enthusiastically.

"Thank you Itachi-kun; it's the first gift he's gotten from someone, besides me" the third said.

"Why is he separated from the rest of the kids here?" Itachi said.

"Unfortunately, I don't know the reason for that myself, but I can't force them to make him stay close to the kids here; it's there orphanage. At least he's being taken care of; his parents died during the nine-tails attack" Itachi figured the third wouldn't mention about the fox within Naruto, but he felt he had to act like he didn't know to throw off any suspicion from himself.

"So it looks like young Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun are getting along" Itachi looked back at the crib to see both Sasuke and Naruto holding each other by the shoulders, and jumping up and down, giggling.

"Alright Sasuke, we should leave before both you and Naruto-kun here break the crib" Itachi says as he picked up Sasuke; Naruto tried to reach for him once they separated.

Itachi placed his hand on Naruto's head, ruffling his hair, "don't worry Naruto-kun, I'll try to make my days off a visit to you" Naruto had a pout on his face.

Itachi almost forgot that the third was there when he heard him chuckle, "don't worry Naruto-kun, I'm still here for a bit longer."

"OJii" Naruto's pout was immediately replaced with a smile.

"I should leave and get Sasuke back for his meal. It was nice seeing you hokage-sama" Itachi bowed.

"It was quite interesting Itachi-kun; I hope you continue to come by with young Sasuke-kun to see Naruto-kun. He seems happier with your visit" and Itachi didn't doubt that; he wouldn't be surprised if only the Hokage was the one who showed any affection towards Naruto currently.

Itachi was debating if he should tell his Kaa-san about Naruto-kun, but just thought for now he would only tell part of the truth so no one finds it suspicious that an Uchiha was having any interactions with the nine-tails sacrifice.

* * *

"Alright you three today were going to do something different" Yamato-sensei said. All three of them had met at their usual meeting place at training ground ten.

"Something different sensei?" Hikari asked.

"Yes, today were going to start with missions since the other genin team that graduated with you are in the village. In the afternoon we'll be doing group training with them. We wish to see how far you've improved by facing someone that you're not used to sparing against" Yamato-sensei said.

This got Itachi to raise his eyebrows; he hadn't bothered to find out, but it seemed that apart from his team, the only other genin team that had graduated was Team 6; Sora's team.

'This should be interesting' Itachi thought. Ever since Itachi and Sora had become genins, they barely saw each other or the three from the academy (apart from the few times the three would visit them separately). Itachi was curious on how Strong Sora had gotten.

"Well, come along you three; we've got to head to the hokage tower to get our mission for the day" and with that all of them proceeded to the tower.

"Itachi!" Itachi looked straight to see it was Sora with his two teammates.

"Hello Sora" Itachi said.

"Hey, this is the first time seeing you here in the morning; you here for a mission?" Sora asked.

"Yes. We usually train first before doing missions, but today it's going to be reversed" Itachi said.

"I see, it's opposite with us. First we do missions, then train. Our sensei is very strict with being on time, unless there's a good reason for it. Were actually meeting later than usual today for some reason" Sora said.

Nodding, Itachi saw that his team was waiting for him, "We'll talk later" and he proceeded to follow his team.

"Itachi-kun, were they the other genin sensei was talking about?" Hikari asked.

"Hai, they were in the graduating class this year" Itachi explained.

"Wow. We've been together for the most part that I forgot that the other genins are 12 years old. They don't look too big though" Takeru said, sounding a little nervous.

"Were not all tall like you Takeru; give it a few years and I'm pretty sure Itachi-kun here will reach your height. You forget that he's the youngest one out of all of us?" Hikari said sternly.

Takeru looked at Itachi as if realizing that he did indeed forget, but Itachi just shrugged; it didn't really make a difference to him since he was technically in his twenties, mentally at least.

"Were here guys, focus" Yamato sensei said as he opened the door towards the missions room.

"Ah, team 10, here for missions" The third said.

"Hai Hokage-sama" Yamato said.

Nodding, he pulled out a mission from the D-rank pile, "This should be a simple mission; some supplies for one of the businesses here were just dropped off at the side of the gates. Just get them for the merchant and place them where he wants it to. You can come in" the man, who appeared to be in his sixties, came forth.

"Hello young'uns. My name is Sangi. I wouldn't bother asking you for assistance, but as you can see I'm not as young as I once was. The merchandise is waiting at the front gates at the village, and my business is near the academy" the old man replied.

"It's not a problem Sangi-san. When would you like to start?" Yamato sensei askes.

"How about now; the sooner we start the sooner we can finish" Sangi says.

And so, team 10 once again begins a D-rank mission; Hikari and Takeru looking with faces of disappointment, and Itachi with a blank face.

* * *

That's it for now.

Next week it will be in Sora's Perspective, just a heads up.

Naruto has been found, and Itachi is going to be trying to get the two to be friends early on.

Cheers everyone


	15. Chapter 15

Hey everyone

Sorry for being late, I was burning up with fever yesterday. Does that happen after getting a Tetnous shot? Well, thankfully I'm better, but now i'm behind everything so Here's the next chapter.  
If any of you are also a Hunger games fan, I've started a new story of it, and would appreciate if you can spread the word, or give it a read for some feedback.

Enjoy

I don't own Naruto

* * *

Chapter 15

For Sora, the four months have been fun, boring, frustrating, and satisfying. Apart from the Uchiha group that he and Itachi had been a part of back at the academy, he didn't have anyone else he considered a friend, so he grew a bit attached to his two teammates.

Neko, the only female member on the team, was always talking with him and polite, unless you really ticked her off. Whenever they would meet for team meetings, she was always friendly with him, and they could talk without any problems. Since she was aspiring to become a medic ninja, whenever he or Inu would get hurt, she would heal their wounds. Her ability to heal with her chakra had improved during the four months; probably because he got hurt frequently.

He still would find himself nervous as they would talk sometimes, particularly when he didn't notice how close they would get sometimes. Whether it was during missions, or just simple conversations, or training, he would find himself slightly blushing. He wished he knew why, but all Shisui would joke is that he had a crush on her, which made no sense because they were friends. He figured since she was his first female friend, he found things that are normal around guys, a bit embarrassing with girls.

Inu, the other male member on the team, was still is an arrogant prick, but he's been slowly trying not to be, which sometimes is nice, and then other times it is annoying. While it's nice he's trying not to be rude, sometimes it would be better if he would spit it out. Sora would describe him as blunt person. He isn't rude, just honest.

The missions have been boring, even the C-ranks. Weed pulling, litter cleaning, dog-walking, babysitting, fence painting- and the demon cat catching. That mission should be B-ranked from the injuries received afterwards.

The C-ranked were only considered that level because they were out of the village; they might as well been D—ranked otherwise. Sora's team only had done 4 C-ranked missions; one per month. One had been bringing supplies to a farm, and then guarding the family for two weeks while the family used the supplies to build a fence. The other three had been a travel and deliver to other villages, meeting halfway. Sora thought it was the worst thing because it wasn't so fun to meet with an Iwa team halfway just to deliver some forms.

The only satisfying thing Sora could say about being a genin was that he felt he got stronger every day. There sensei, apart from being punctual, would get them to spar, train with a lot of physical exertion, and made sure chakra control was perfected. The first month their sensei taught them the tree climbing exercise, which took nearly a week for him and Inu to complete, and the third month was water walking, which took nearly two weeks for him and Inu to complete. Neko just took a day; two at most, to perfect each exercise. Sora figured that being a medic made her good at chakra control.

He hadn't had many interactions from the Uchiha group since becoming genin. Only two times in the four months had they hung out together, and that was just to compare each other's Fire ball jutsus.

* * *

Sora hadn't seen Itachi at all in the four months. Whether it was because when his team was in the village, Itachi's was out, or reversal when his team is out of the village and Itachi's is in. Sora didn't know how many missions Itachi's team had taken that required travel outside, he just knew the C-ranks would leave his team out for a week at least; two for the farm one.

So when Sora saw team 10 walking towards the Hokage tower, he couldn't help but start up a conversation, "Itachi!"

Itachi looked straight at him, "Hello Sora"

"Hey, this is the first time seeing you here in the morning; you here for a mission?" he asked.

"Yes. We usually train first before doing missions, but today it's going to be reversed" Itachi said.

"I see, it's opposite with us. First we do missions, then train. Our sensei is very strict with being on time, unless there's a good reason for it. Were actually meeting later than usual today for some reason" he said.

Nodding, Itachi saw that his team was waiting for him, "We'll talk later" and Itachi continued to follow his team to the tower.

"Hey Sora, you know them?" Neko comes by to ask.

"Just the boy I was speaking with. He was part of the Uchiha group I hung out with during the academy" Sora replies.

"He looks pretty young to me; must be really good to graduate at that age" Inu comments as he approaches them.

"Actually yeah, his entire team look pretty young. Itachi is one of a kind though. His father shows a lot of pride in him" he says.

"Oh, isn't he the one that went with you and your family to the barbecue after graduation?" Neko asks as if remembering.

"Yup" Sora answers.

"I hope you three enjoyed the sleep in, because chances are you're not getting too many of those when we meet up" all three startle to see their sensei hanging upside down. It seems like no matter, their sensei could catch them by surprise each time.

"Geez Daru-sensei, why do you always have to startle us?" Neko asks annoyed.

"Now, now, eventually you'll be able to sense me, but right now let's get into the tower to grab our mission. And no, Sora, today we'll just be doing a D-rank, I got a surprise for training later on" Daru-sensei said.

Grumbling, Sora, Neko, and Inu begin to head towards the hokage office. Before they could enter however, Team 10 was just leaving the room.

"Itachi, you got anything exciting?" Sora asks.

"D-rank" Itachi answers.

That was all the two said before team 6 entered the hokage office.

"Daru with team 6 looking for D-rank missions" Daru-sensei said.

"Good morning. This is a surprise, usually I expect an earlier time for your team to approach" the Hokage said.

"A little change every now and then is good" was Daru's simple reply.

"It indeed is, how about painting a house? It is really big, and needs a lot of heavy lifting" The Hokage said.

"We'll take it" Daru said.

Sarutobi hands them the scroll, and team 6 leave, Sora mumbling along the way.

* * *

"Why can't we do a C-rank mission? It's been almost a month since we last did one!" Sora whined.

"I don't know, but all that whining you're doing is not helping" Inu said as he continued to paint the fence.

Sora fumed at his response, but ignored it; fighting wasn't going to get this done any faster as he learned the first month.

"Maybe tomorrow, we should hold our ground until we get a C rank mission. I bet sensei would have no choice" Sora continued to say.

"And what makes you think that he would listen this time?" Inu asked, keeping that infuriating tone that always sounded as if mocking him.

"Because we've done loads more D-ranks than C-rank, and we keep getting better. If holding our ground doesn't work, we'll just find another way to compromise" Sora retorted.

"It's a waste of time."

"I'm still going to try."

"There's no point."

"You never know unless you try Inu."

Neko sighed as she moved further away from them; when they start this way, it's better to stay out of it. The last few times she involved herself in these arguments had them doing additional work for said mission because things would get destroyed.

"Hey you three, want to take a lemonade break" a voice said; it was the wife of the house the three were painting for.

"Sure!" Sora immediately dropped his paint roller, and quickly went to get lemonade.

"Why do I even bother; he's so damn stubborn" Inu sighs, placing his roller to the side gently.

"Is that why neither of you two can spend time alone without arguing?" Neko says from behind.

"Perhaps, but I think our personalities just clash; he's a bit energetic and smiles, and I'm calm and serious" Inu responds.

"True, but at least you guys have gotten better; neither of you have had a remake on our first day as a team" Neko says. Which is true, the closest thing is during spars, and it's usually even on who win's; Sora hasn't chosen to use his Sharingan during these spars.

The two walk towards the lady, and take their lemonades with thanks. The three just drink and enjoy the quietness for a few minutes, until there sensei breaks it, "hey, where's my lemonade?"

"But you didn't do anything!" Sora exclaimed.

"Not true; I supervise so if anything goes wrong I can help out" their sensei says. All three groan.

With the lady pouring a fourth cup of lemonade, their sensei drinks it in one gulp before turning his attention to the team, "Alright, listen up; after the mission today you'll be sparing against a genin team that graduated with you. Its team 10" Sora looks surprised.

"Itachi's team? But they are younger than us, what about the other graduates?" Sora asked.

"The others all failed, only team 6 and 10 passed. And just because they are younger, doesn't mean they will lose. One of them is 7 years old" Daru sensei says.

Sora already knew who that was, but he was surprised that only his team and Itachi's passed. He couldn't really remember who had been in his class during his time at the academy, but he thought a few more could've qualified.

"So what happens to the ones who don't pass sensei?" Neko asked.

"Either they get sent back for a remedial and try again after 6 months, or they quit all together. Sometimes they may be apprenticed instead of being on a team, but that's a rarity" his sensei said.

"Might as well quit if you fail in your final year" Inu states.

"Hey, everyone fails at some point in their life. They just have to keep trying. The only time you truly fail is if you give up" Sora said, pointing at Inu.

Inu opens his mouth to retort, but thinks better of it and closes it. Sora sees his eyes before Inu turns away; look of guilt.

"Okay, that's enough of that; get this place fully painted so by 5 we can meet up team 10," all three groan, " hey, the faster you finish, the longer rest you'll have before meeting up" This got them up on their feet, and painting faster than they had previously.

"And be careful not to get paint on the flowers; otherwise we'll have another D-rank to fix them up!"

* * *

Painting the fence took a while (the house was really big), and by the time team 6 was done, it was 3:30 p.m.

"Okay, make sure to wash up, and be at training ground 10 by 5" Daru left after saying that with a poof.

"We really need to get him to teach us that" Sora said as he began to leave.

"Well, you could always copy it with your eyes" Inu said, following.

"Hey, I'd never use them against an ally. Besides, we could just ask him" Sora said. He always had to keep stating that he would never use his eyes to copy off of a leaf shinobi.

"Would you guys not start right now, we only got a little more than an hour, and I'm starving" Neko stated.

"Me to, but can't eat anything heavy" Sora said.

"Well, see you at 5" and Inu quickly left.

"I wish he would stop being so reserved. He's gotten better at not being an asshole, but the whole arrogance and stubborn is still there" Sora sighed.

"Well, you're the same a bit" Neko said.

"Hey I am not!" Sora exclaimed.

"Okay, not arrogant, but you are stubborn. And I meant the two of you act like you have something to prove. Then again, that may as well be our team memo; were always trying to prove something" Neko sighed.

This shut up Sora; he got to learn a bit of Neko's relationship with her family. She and her brother get along well, but her father treats her like the plague. He never met the man, but her brother seemed to act a bit overprotective whenever he would tease Neko sometimes.

"Hey, out of curiosity, why does your brother sometimes glare at me? I mean we get along real well, but sometimes when he thinks I'm not looking, he'll give me an 'or else' look," Sora asked.

Neko just paused before continuing to walk, "that's just him being overprotective; he does the same thing with Inu after all."

"Yeah, but Inu doesn't exactly have the warmest personality; you have to practically see Inu every day to understand that he's a good guy. Were your teammates though, we pretty much are overprotective of you, especially since you're the medic on the team" Sora states.

"It's just an older brother thing, especially since I'm a ninja and he's not; I can beat him in a battle" Neko giggles.

"I guess" Sora was more confused than before, especially when he saw Neko turn a little red. He figured it was out of embarrassment.

"Anyways, I'll see you at 5; be on time" Neko says as she sprints to her house.

Sora immediately runs towards his district to get a quick shower; he couldn't wait for the spar with Itachi's team.

* * *

"Why is it always you first?" Sora asks as he approaches Inu.

"I just like to get a good meditation in before anything" Inu just responds calmly. It was 4:45.

"Are you guys arguing already?" Neko says, approaching.

"No, it's just-Hey, Itachi" Sora breaks off, running to greet Itachi; he lifts his fist up.

"Hello Sora" Itachi greets, bringing his own fist to meet Sora's.

"Well Itachi-kun, aren't you going to introduce us?" A girl's voice asks from a few feet away from Itachi.

Sora raises his head to see a girl and boy approaching. The girl was taller than Itachi, but shorter than him, Neko, and Inu. The boy was the same height as him.

"Sora, this is Hikari and Takeru. Hikari and Takeru, this is Sora" Itachi introduced.

"It's nice to finally meet you guys. I'm Neko, and this is Inu" Neko introduced them, while Inu walked up.

"So how old are you three?" Inu asked, narrowing his eyes slightly.

"I and Hikari are 10, and Itachi is 7. I'll be 11 soon" Takeru answered.

"Well, I'm glad all six of you are getting along" a voice said, showing both Yamato and Daru standing in a tree.

"Now let's begin the sparing."

* * *

There we go, now some entertainment for next week will be presented.

I'm hoping by the time I reach chapter 20, i'll begin to do a sort of time-skip since I feel i'm slowly dragging this out.

Hope you enjoyed it

cheers


	16. Chapter 16

Hi guys

I'm sorry, but based on how my schedule became last week, expect some inconsistent postings for awhile.

Here's the next chapter, I tried to make it as lively as I can with the fighting, but i guess i'm not really imaginative when it comes to it.

Enjoy

I don't own Naruto

* * *

Chapter 16

Both team 6 and 10 were together, waiting on their sensei's for directions.

"Alright, were going to make this one a spar of one on one. We discussed who would pair up with who based on fighting styles. We have a reason for this besides showing off" Yamato-sensei says.

"It's to first help you guys to adjust to fighting someone else besides your own teammates. Once you spar with the same person for so long, you tend to get use to their movements so it becomes predictable to you; In some ways you also become comfortable, which should never happen in an actual fight" Daru sensei.

Some of them look slightly ashamed, while surprise or indifference colors their face; Sora and Neko looked surprised, Takeru and Hikari looked ashamed, and Inu and Itachi looked with indifference.

"So, in order to rectify this, we've decided that today you'll be fighting completely different opponents" Yamato sensei says.

"There are many of reasons why we're getting you guys to do this, but the main one is improvement. While two of you will fight, the rest of the four will watch, observe, and pay attention. Once the fight is over, we'll be asking the four questions about the fight" Daru sensei says.

"So expect to be here for a while" Yamato sensei says. Some groaning could be heard from the genins.

"The fight will go like this: Itachi vs Inu, Hikari vs Neko, and Takeru vs Sora. The fight will either be 10 minutes long, or when one concedes defeat. Ladies first please" Daru Sensei says.

Both Hikari and Neko walk towards the middle of the training field, and make the hand sign with their hand; they both appeared to be calm.

"You may begin" Daru says.

The two were quiet, staring each other down for about a minute, readying there fighting stance. Then, they both rush at each other.

The two were almost at touching distance, when suddenly Hikari throws a Kunai at Neko, jumping to the right side at the same time.

Neko deflects the Kunai with her own, but failed to notice the punch aiming her way in time to dodge, block, or counter, thus getting the impact on her right side as a result.

It wasn't quite as strong as one would expect, thus Neko was able to react right away after getting hit by pretending to fall to the ground, only to bring her foot to kick Hikari, aiming for her shoulder.

Hikari managed to use her arm to take the impact instead of her shoulder, but the kick had enough force behind it to send Hikari a couple of feet away, close to a tree nearby.

Neko massages her side, but reacts at once when Hikari quickly gets up, throwing another kunai in her direction, as Hikari places herself slightly up on the side of the tree, her feet sticking to it.

'So she knows tree walking' Neko thinks as she begins to make hand signs. As soon the kunai hits her, a poof of smoke takes place, showing a log in her place.

'Substitution' Hikari quickly thinks, jumping to the noise near a bush.

She takes a deep breath, ignoring the sounds their team are making, trying to pinpoint Neko's chakra. Hikari had asked Takeru about chakra sensing it not too long after he revealed he could sense chakra, and although it didn't come to her the way she wished, every now and then if she truly concentrates, she could pick it up.

Waiting, keeping her breath even, trying to make sense around her, she tried to sense it. At first nothing happened, and then she felt it a few second, before losing it again.

Hikari looked directly to the left, up the tree, and quickly made hand signs of her own, before getting hit and revealing in its place a log.

Neko landed on the ground, with a frown on her face, as she began looking around.

Hikari wished there was some time to make a trap, but unfortunately there wasn't as just the slightest movement had alerted Neko to her position. She moved out of the way, and began running up the tree she had stuck to earlier.

After Neko missed punching Hikari, she began chasing after her up the tree.

Once they were close to the top, Hikari jumped, and made it to the other tree. While jumping, she had thrown shuriken towards Neko, and once landing on the tree bark, Hikari kept throwing them while running downwards.

Neko was surprised that Hikari was able to out speed her, and more shocked by the sudden action that she was a tad too slow, and gained a slight cut on her cheek.

Placing her hand on the cut, she began running downwards on her tree, blocking every single shuriken she could with her Kunai in the process.

Unfortunately, two more grazed her arm, and left calf. Once the shuriken stopped, Neko realized that perhaps Hikari had run out of them.

They managed to make it to the ground at the same time, and true to her suspicions, Hikari had indeed run out of ninja tools to fight with.

Hikari now was at a loss on what to do; she was good at making strategies, but planned, not on the spot, and the fact she was out of ninja tools wasn't helping. The only comfort she could take was that she had indeed managed to injure Neko a tad bit.

Neko ignored the pain in her calf, and sprinted towards Hikari, aiming to hit at her temple.

Hikari dodged, and tried to counter, only to be blocked by Neko.

For nearly two minutes the fight had become pure taijutsu; one blocked then attacked, and the other would counter. It stayed that way until Hikari had fallen to the ground, and Neko hovered over her, holding a kunai at her throat.

"Yield" Neko yells out.

"I forfeit" Hikari responds, knowing that it was her loss.

"And the winner is Neko" Daru says, earning a clapping sound in the background.

Neko got off of Hikari, and placed a hand out to help her up, which Hikari took it.

"I can help with the cuts if you want" Hikari says.

"It's okay; I'll just heal them while we watch the next fight with my medical jutsu" Neko waves off.

"You know how to do medical jutsu?" a voice behind, revealing to be Takeru, says.

"Yup, she's been getting really good at it too" the next voice, Sora, says proudly.

"Hear that Hikari, you have a training partner now for medical justu" Takeru says to Hikari, then turns towards Neko, "Hikari also knows medical jutsu, but it's hard to study on your own."

Neko looks back at Hikari with a look of surprise, "you know how to do Medical jutsu too? How far are you in it? What have you studied so far? This is so cool, now I have someone to compare and share knowledge with!"

"Whoa, hang on you two, perhaps you should get those fixed first before going on a rant on how fond of medical ninjas" Sora says, then backs away from Neko when she throws a glare his way.

"I don't obsess; it's just a lot of chakra control so it's very impressive when I see them perform on the field" Neko huffs.

"When have you been on the field to see it?" Sora asks, looking confused.

"I haven't, just once in a hospital" Neko responds, looking away.

"Oh" Sora responds, realizing what she was getting at.

The air becomes slightly uncomfortable, until a voice breaks it.

"Alright, knock it off your four, let's all gather around and talk about the fight we saw before us" Daru-sensei says, as Yamato-sensei beckons the two (Itachi and Inu) who chose to stay back to come closer.

Once all were gathered, they sat on the ground, and Neko let Hikari heal the wounds, while Yamati-sensei cleared his throat.

"Alright, so we know that the two of you are the medics on your team, but that's not what we're going to talk about. We're going to speak about what we observed, and discuss the positives and negatives in the performance, then suggest what's to be worked on. Let's go clock-wise, therefore, let's talk about Hikari-chan. Inu, you first about her."

Inu looks around as all eyes were on him, and sighed before speaking up, "what should I talk about, the positive or negative?"

"Both" both the sensei's say.

"The positives: Hikari-san can formulate a plan a few steps, and she seems to sense with limitations. Her Taijutsu is above average, and she's highly accurate with weapon aiming. She also seems to be decent in speed. The negatives: there doesn't seem to be too much power in her punches or kicks, and if she's put on the spot, she can't improvise. She also seems to be limited in Ninjutsu" Inu explains in a monotone voice, as if answering a question back at the academy.

"Good, anyone else?" Yamato sensei asks.

"I think she also has really strong pain tolerance; when Hikari-san took the hit from Neko, she immediately acted instead of focusing on the pain" Takeru says.

"That is true, and don't think I don't notice the slight wince when you move your shoulder Hikari-chan" Yamato-sensei states, causing Hikari to grimace in answer.

"Don't worry sensei; after Hikari-chan finishes with my injuries, I'll check on any she may feel from our spar" Neko responds.

Nodding, Yamato sensei looks back at the group, "okay Sora, I want you to tell us what Hikari-chan here can do to improve on her skills."

Sora looks at Hikari, as if worrying at offending her, but she just focuses on healing Nekos wounds from their spar, "well, I would say to do some weight lifting in order to increase strength in her punches and kicks, and perhaps add some speed exercises. Her speed shows to be her strength, especially when she already has a plan in mind, so getting faster would not only help with those plans, but make it harder for her opponent to catch her should the plan fail."

"Good, anyone else?" Daru sensei asks.

"Perhaps working on that thing she was doing before? I don't know what it was, but she managed to find Neko with it" Inu says as if unsure.

"Chakra sensing; I've been practicing it for a few months, but it's very difficult to do" Hikari explains.

"I've been trying to help her, but it's kind of hard to explain; you actually have to feel it more through practice with your body than by reading scrolls" Takeru explains.

Everyone seems to nod, but Inu picked up on something, "you know how to sense someone's chakra?"

"Yes" was Takeru's quick reply.

Inu looked like he was about to say something back, but Yamato sensei spoke first, "good job guys, I'm glad you were all so observant during the spar, and it helps to get outside review for improvement as opposed to just figuring out what you need to work on. Now we shall get started with the second round."

Everyone got up and walked back to where they had been standing before, with the sensei's up in the trees, and the genins lined behind the bushes.

"Next up will be Sora vs Takeru. Both of you please make your way towards the center" Daru sensei says.

"Sora" Sora turns around to see its Inu whispers to him.

"Yeah?" Sora whispers back to him.

"Use everything in your arsenal, including those, since were trying to improve ourselves" Inu responds, pointing at his eyes.

Sora looks surprised at first, but because of Inu's serious expression, he nodded, then turned his head to where Takeru was.

Both Takeru and and Sora walk slowly towards the centre, and make the hand sign. Unlike the girls, both of them had a grin on their face, and didn't hide the excitement that appeared on their face.

"Whenever you're ready" Yamato sensei said.

And the two wasted no time in attacking.

* * *

Well there you have it.

I don't feel it's my best, but they can't really use there medical ninjustu to fight since they haven't reached the level where Kabuto is.

I hope next chapters more interesting for you guys.

Let me know if there's any errors in this that i didn't catch

Cheers


	17. Chapter 17

Hi everyone

I'm sorry I didn't post sooner, my internet went out, along with the power 3 days ago, and I just got it back.

There chapter should be more interesting since its a fight with the boys

Enjoy

I don't own Naruto

* * *

Chapter 17

Takeru was the first to reach, and threw a punch. Sora dodged it, and immediately did a sweep to knock Takeru off of his feet. Takeru placed his hands on the ground, and turned with them, making his feet wide as he could, causing Sora to flip backwards to avoid the spinning kick. Just as Takeru was flipping to get back on his feet, Sora began to throw shuriken at him. One landed at Takeru's shoulder, but Takeru managed to block the rest with his Kunai.

Sora sprinted forwards, ready to deliver one of his powered up punches with chakra in it, but Takeru dodged at the last second, tapping him on the shoulder with his finger.

The two pushed from the ground with chakra to split from each other, and Sora begun to smell some smoke.

Looking over his shoulder, Sora saw an explosive tag nearby, and quickly jumped up into the air just as it went boom.

"What are you trying to do, get me killed!?" Sora yells out as he throws more shuriken at Takeru.

It seemed that Takeru wasn't prepared for the multitasking Sora did, and had another Shuriken dig in his left calf, and his right hip got skinned at bit. Takeru just blocks the rest, and begins to throw some shuriken of his own.

Once Sora got close to landing on the ground, he slowly began to build a bit of chakra and released it as he punched the ground near Takeru, causing Takeru to jump out of the way.

Sora quickly looks up, and notices something strange; one of the broken ground pieces, after he punched the ground, was digging into Takeru's right shoulder, but Takeru looked like it wasn't bothering him in the slightest.

"Forfeit, or else you're going to bleed to death" Sora says, but Takeru just throws another exposive tag at him, causing Sora to throw a kunai in front of it, before pumping chakra into his feet, and jumping to the side.

The bomb explodes in the middle of them, and Sora covers himself in the bushes.

'This is strange; it's not a spar anymore, but a fight to the death!' he looked around to see why the sensei's weren't saying anything.

Looking around, he realised that no one was nearby at all, 'where did they go?'

It a mistake to not pay attention to his opponent, because in that moment of distraction, he felt something cold slice the side of his left cheek.

Looking where it came from, Sora quickly jumped out of the way before another would lodge into his forehead.

'How did he find me?' Sora thought as he hid in another location of the field, only to find Takeru staring at his location and throwing more shuriken's his way.

Blocking them all, he wondered how Takeru was even standing without wincing in pain, or looking dizzy from the blood that's spilling from him.

'It's like he can sense me without actually seeing me' as soon as Sora thought that, he remembered that Takeru had mentioned that he could sense chakra and that he was helping Hikari practice it.

'I'm an idiot! Of course I would forget something like that' Sora quickly made a beeline towards Takeru, and began making hand signs:

'Tiger, Monkey, Boar, Horse, and Tiger', "Fire style: fire ball jutsu" Sora blew it at Takeru, reducing the amount of chakra to make it less fatal should it hit.

Takeru managed to move out of the way, but wasn't fast enough, and got burnt on his left leg. Sora, angry that Takeru was trying to kill him, immediately stabbed him in the arm; the ground piece was still there.

Sora was expecting some form of yelling and screaming, but instead he had to barely dodge a kunai stabbing, which did lodge into his wrist.

It was so painful, but looking at Takeru, still moving like nothing was wrong, Sora finally activated his Sharingan.

The minute he activated it, his eyes widened. Takeru was coming to place a fatal stab on him, and Sora painfully brought his hands together.

"Kai" he yelled out.

Suddenly, the bloody form of Takeru vanished, and whatever broken ground that his punch had caused was gone. Also, wherever the explosions hit from the explosive tags was gone as well, and Takeru's blood was nowhere on the ground.

Sora touched his cheek to find the cut from Takeru's shuriken vanish, and the pain from the kunai in his wrist gone.

Looking around, he saw both sensei's, and the other four genins, standing at a far distance. They hadn't been there a second ago.

'Genjutsu' Sora thought, and cursed himself for not activating his Sharingan earlier. He wondered when Takeru had the time to place the genjutsu, but it seemed to be around the first explosive tag.

A sound from behind him instantly got Sora sprinting in that direction. While running, he seemed to have stepped on something, causing a lot of shuriken's and Kunai's to fly towards him.

'A trap! When did he have time to make one?' Sora thought as he started making hand signs again.

"Fire style: fire ball jutsu!" Sora blew a big fire ball this time, and stopped every weapon aimed at him with it.

A sound from behind warned him that he was about to be attacked, and immediately made a spin, dodging the punch, and placing one of his own at Takeru.

A poof sound, and a log taking Takeru's place, told Sora he did a substitution.

He immediately jumped to the side and henged into a bush before the kunai's hit him.

Takeru landed where he threw the kunai's earlier, and began sprinting to where Sora was henged.

Takeru brought his arm back, and Sora barely had enough time to move out of the way, unhenging in the process, before Takeru landed a hit.

'Sensor, forgot' Sora berated himself, before blocking each and every hit Takeru could throw at him.

Now that he had his Sharingan on, he was able to read Takeru's moves, and managed to fight effectively against him. It looked like Takeru was beginning to run out energy from the lack of strength his punches were delivering.

Catching one of Takeru's punches, Sora pulls one of his own, causing Takeru to land on the ground, flat on his back. Sora immediately pins him down, and places his Kunai at Takeru's throat, the same time Takeru pushes his own Kunai near Sora's throat.

They were at a stalemate.

"Time! It's now been ten minutes!" Daru-sensei yells out.

"Both of you are at a tie, stand down" Yamato-sensei says in response.

The two of them stay frozen where they are for a moment longer, before Sora gets up, and pulls Takeru up on his feet.

The two of them go to retrieve there weapons after shaking hands, and wait for the rest of the team to come and make the group meeting like before.

"Damn, I wasn't expecting a genjutsu out of you" Sora says, deactivating his Sharingan.

"I'm still a beginner at it, so I'm sure there were some flaws with it that caused you to realize what was going on" Takeru says.

"When did you place it?" Sora asks.

"When I tapped your shoulder" Takeru answers.

"How were you able to create a trap in such a fast range?" Sora asks.

"I'm just a natural at it; you were in that genjutsu for about 5 minutes or so, plenty of time to set one up" Takeru just answers.

"For some reason I forgot you told the group about your sensory skills" Sora says, looking to the side in embarrassment.

"I did? When did I say that?" Takeru asks, looking surprised.

"Back when we were discussing Neko-chan and Hikari-chan's spar" Sora says.

"Oh yeah, damn, no wonder you were able to dodge me at the last second. Never let your enemy know your skills foolishly" Takeru says sheepishly.

"Alright you two, that was a splendid match. Let's all sit down to discuss it" everyone begins to sit in a circle.

Neko sat real close to Sora, causing him to turn red and began to bring glowing hands to his throat.

"Don't move Sora" Neko says.

"But Neko-chan, I'm alright; barely got hurt" Sora says, looking confused.

"You have a slight scratch on your throat, and you have some slight burns on your lips. Remember, I'm watching you so you can't hide your injuries from me" this makes Sora stutter, loss for words.

"Sorry Sora, it seems I pressed my Kunai far enough to draw out blood" Takeru apologizes as Hikari comes to check if he had any injuries. Apart from the punch Sora did to Takeru and his shoulder where the shuriken hit, he was unharmed.

"Alright, we're going to speak about what we observed, and discuss the positives and negatives in the performance, then suggest what's to be worked on. Let's go counter-clockwise this time, starting with Takeru-kun. Neko-chan, you first about him" Daru-sensei says, pointing at Neko.

While healing the cut on Sora's throat, Neko starts talking, "Takeru-kun's biggest positive is his sensory skills. Because of it, Sora was unable to hide no matter what. I can't say much for the genjutsu, but it must've been decent if it took Sora awhile to break out of it. His ninja tools skills with aim are decent enough, but the speed it took for him to create the trap was impressive. His Taijutsu fighting was pretty good as well. He is above average in speed. I only saw the substitution for ninjutsu, so I can't really say anything else but that."

"Anything else to add?" Daru-sensei asks.

"He also had high tolerance to pain since he didn't scream or wince once the shuriken stuck to his shoulder" Inu added.

"Alright, and the negatives?" Yamato-sensei asks.

"He needs to increase his chakra and stamina; just using that genjutsu used a great deal of chakra for him. During the fight in the last few minutes, Takeru-kun was starting to wear out" Neko said, finished with Sora's throat and now moved on to heal his lips.

"Good, anything else?" Daru-sensei asks.

"Perhaps sharpen his focus during the fight; while he can sense chakra, Takeru-san seems to be slightly slow in his reactions, thus him getting injured" Inu added.

At this, Sora spoke up, "may I say something in terms of the genjutsu since I was the one to experience it?"

Daru-sensei nods and Sora begins, "Takeru, your genjutsu is relatively decent; you had smell, scent, touch, and sound down, but sight was a little off. You had thrown away the team, which made no sense since they were supposed to be observing the entire time, and sometimes the floor looked different during our fight within seconds. When I thought I was facing you, no sound or reaction came, regardless of how much injuries were sustained. It slowly made the whole thing less believable."

Takeru just sighed at this, but nodded.

"Alright, time to get started on the next fight" Yamato-sensei says.

"Hold up sensei, what about me? Aren't you guys going to review me?" Sora says, causing Neko to pause for a moment.

"Come to think of it, after mine and Hikari-chans fight only she was critiqued and looked at for ideas of improvements, while it was Sora and Inu here that did the assessment. What's going on Sensei?" Neko asks, narrowing her eyes.

"What do you mean?" Daru-sensei asks.

"Daru, did you not tell them that you were helping me out with my kids?" Yamato-sensei asks Daru.

"There's a good chance I did not. Sorry about that. The goal is still the same as I said before, but the reviewing and critiquing is for team 10. Yamato here felt that he should get a second opinion on his genins before either giving them harder missions, or finding different ways to train them" Daru-sensei explains to his team.

"So what you're saying is we are doing this as a favour to them, and there's no benefit to us?" Inu asks, his normally calm face beginning to grow in frustration.

"Not necessarily, you three get to test your skills on others besides yourself; remember what I said before that once you get use to a sparring partner it becomes predictable? Well now you get to fight someone you're not use to and see how to deal with it" Daru sensei says.

"And why was it I get to be paired up with the youngest one on team 10? How does it help me facing off against someone as young as him? It isn't a fair fight" Inu yells losing whatever calm he had before.

"Is that a fact? And why isn't it a fair fight?" Yamato-sensei asks, clearly amused.

"It isn't fair to him because he's so young, and it isn't fair to me because it's a waste of training time!" Inu continues to yell out. Both Takeru and Hikari start to glare at him.

"Inu that's rude" Neko yells out.

Inu's about to retort, but before he can, Sora begins to laugh like crazy.

"Sora, this isn't a funny atmosphere to be laughing at" Neko scolds him.

Getting a grip at his laughing, Sora begins to speak, but still had a smirk on his face, "Sorry, but I've never really seen you go off of your rocker like that Inu. And besides, that's really not what I was laughing at; it's the fact that you think Itachi won't stand a chance against you. Boy, you really are clueless" and Sora begins to laugh, not as hard as before, again.

Now everyone was looking at Sora for some explanation. When he didn't continue, Inu finally asks, "What are you talking about? What is it that makes me clueless?"

Sora stops laughing, looks at Itachi for a moment as if to ask permission, then looks at Inu with one of his serious looks, "because I believe that out of the six of us, Itachi is the strongest one here."

* * *

There we have it guys, Sora admitting that he believes Itachi is stronger than everyone else. I'm wondering what Itachi might be thinking?

Anyways, i'm going to give you a bit of information; next weeks point of veiw is going to be mostly seen through Inu's for the next chapter. Itachi's point of view the week after that, but I'll remind you guys again next week as well.

Cheers


	18. Chapter 18

Hey everyone

I would like to thank you all for the reviews and those who is enjoying the story, it really helps when it comes to motivation.

I just want to give a heads up that I kept it as third person as possible for this chaper, but the point of view is mainly in Inu's. It will be the only time, hopefully.

Also, for those who don't seen to enjoy having Sora be a main character, it was so people could get an Idea of who he is because he becomes important later on during the time skip, which will be happening after five or so chapters. After the time skip the point of view will be mostly Itachi's again

Anyways, enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 18

Everyone had gone quiet after Sora's proclamation. They either were looking at him as if he's grown a second head, or at Itachi and wondering if it was true.

Inu was staring hard at Sora, trying to hear if there had been any sarcasm in his voice, or any bluff on his face; Inu didn't find any.

Inu knew how much Sora hates to brag; Sora doesn't believe that he's inferior to him in skills.

Inu knows Sora always tries to prove that they were all equal, and whenever they argue, Sora almost never agrees with him if Sora thinks his opinions are wrong. The fact that Sora had full belief in the youngest member of team 10, believing Itachi was the strongest out of them here, was surprising.

It wasn't just surprising, it hurt. Inu was able to be at a stalemate, and sometimes win, most of the time with Sora, whether through training or sparing, and yet Sora thought that a seven year old could beat him. Inu didn't even know that he has come to care about Sora's opinion until now, and he couldn't stop the feel of betrayal, and hurt flowing through him.

He featured his face though so no one could tell.

"Well now Sora, I certainly wasn't expecting that. Care to explain how you came to that conclusion?" Yamato-sensei asks.

Now that Sora was fully healed up, he turned to Itachi once again as if asking permission, before stating his reasons, "back at the academy, there were five of us that hung out, and Itachi was the youngest one of us. Even though it's been four months since we've sparred, I've never been able to win against Itachi. Granted, I never used my Sharingan, but none of the other three could beat Itachi either. He's only been in the academy for a year, and yet he's already a genin, where most of the kids my age have had to redo another six months at the academy because they failed the genin exam. Itachi's considered a prodigy in the clan. You're his sensei, I'm sure you've seen it for yourself."

"Well, I've defiantly noticed the difference in how he goes about things, and how he picks up things quicker than Hikari-chan and Takeru-kun here, no offense" he refers to the two.

"None taken sensei" the two respond back.

"Your considered the rookie of the year Inu, so the fact that you get to face Itachi is actually a great match up; the prodigy of the Uchiha clan vs the rookie of the year at the academy" Sora concludes.

"And that's why you think he's the strongest out of us six" Inu says, frowning.

"No. That's why I _know_ he's the strongest out of us six" Sora concludes, once again showing no sign of doubt in his face.

If Inu felt hurt before, it feels twice as deep now. Inu was starting to glower at Sora.

"May we begin sensei?" Itachi speaks for the first time since the conversation began.

"Of course, unless…?" Yamato-sensei looks at Inu.

Inu was still facing Sora, and once Sora noticed, he felt a little unnerved at the look, "What? It's time for your spar."

Inu looks away, and begins to walk towards the middle ground.

"I think you hurt his feelings Sora" Neko whispered to Sora, but loud enough for Inu to catch it. Inu ignored them. He had been fine before meeting the two, and he can do it again. He would prove in this spar why it wasn't a fair fight, and ignore Sora like before. It's not like they were friends.

Once Inu reached the middle ground, he turned to see that Itachi was facing him, already making the hand sign.

Inu studied Itachi for a moment; his expression seemed quite emotionless, and there was no hesitation or nervousness in his movements. Inu brought his hand to make the sign as well, waiting for everyone to clear out.

"Alright, this match will be Inu vs Itachi. Begin!" Yamato calls out.

Inu quickly went into a fighting stance, as with Itachi, and the two waited. Unlike his fight four months ago with Sora, he chose to see what his opponent would do first. When for a minute nothing happened, Inu chose to charge. His speed has increased over time and he had been lifting a bit of weight to put more power into his punches and kicks.

The moment Inu reached Itachi's spot, he immediately went for a kick. Itachi blocked it, and Inu felt he was kicking a rock.

Inu quickly shifted himself to do another kick, but Itachi dodged this time, then he jumped out of the way.

They paused again, and Inu was watching Itachi for some form of movement. Itachi just stood there, in a fighting stance, waiting for the next attack.

"Are you guys fighting, or are you guys playing a staring game?!" Sora yelled out, only for Inu to hear him get punched for it.

In that pause, Inu threw a kunai at Itachi before attacking again. Itachi looked like he was getting into some sort of stance as he blocked the kunai with his own, and Inu realized that it was to block his next attack. With that thought, at the last minute Inu switched into sweeping Itachi from his feet. Before Inu could land a punch afterwards, Itachi seemed to have recovered quickly from the sweep, and punching Itachi's block once again felt like punching a rock.

Inu jumped back and Itachi stood up, taking another stance, a slight different one than before.

'It's like he can read my moves' Inu thought. It shouldn't be possible though because Itachi didn't have his Sharingan on.

'Has he even awakened it?' It didn't seem like it, but one thing for sure he knew now was that Itachi's strategy seemed to be similar to his own; see how the opponent will attack before reacting. If neither of them continues this fight, then this match really will be a staring contest.

'Why does it feel painful to hit him on his arms and ankles' it felt like a wall, and he didn't want to admit that the sweep had felt painful to Inu.

Hiding the Kunai from behind, Inu wrapped an explosive tag around it.

"Five minutes left!" Yamato-sensei called out.

With that call, Inu jumped up into the air, and threw the kunai at Itachi, which Itachi threw his own, causing in between them to explode.

Inu used that smoke and fire to throw shurikens, hoping some of them catching fire, or Itachi couldn't see them coming.

When Inu finally landed back on the ground, a punch took him by surprise, and he was thrown far from it. Inu quickly reacted, and threw more shurikens where he last stood. Itachi blocked them all as Inu got back on his feet. He pumped chakra into his legs, and began to sprint at an even faster rate than before. Before his punch landed, he heard a thump, and found each punch and kicks being matched with his own. Inu was starting to get frustrated on how fast Itachi was matching him. He quickly jumped backwards, and his eyes widened as he saw Itachi making hand signs at an alarmingly fast pace.

"Rat, Tiger, Dog, Ox, Hare, Tiger. Fire style: Phoenix flower Jutsu." Instead of it being a fire ball, it was like small fire balls attacking at a fast pace. Inu dodged with his speed as Itachi kept spitting them out. The last one of the attack had grazed his right arm, but Inu ignored it to get a hit on Itachi. Unfortunately, Itachi saw this, and quickly maneuvered to match his attacks.

'I can't get a hit in. He matches me for speed, and it seems as if he can read my movements even though his eyes aren't activated' Inu was slowly starting to lose the calm he normally had during this spar. If it was even possible, Itachi seemed to have gotten just as fast as him.

They kept on exchanging hit after hit, and no matter what, Inu just couldn't lay a hand on him. After a while Inu jumped back, and threw a ton of shurikens with accuracy he knew he had.

What had surprised him though was instead of dodging or blocking, Itachi made hand signs again, "Fire style: Fire ball jutsu" It seemed a tad smaller than the one Sora had used, but Inu sprinted out of the way.

When he stopped to look where Itachi was, he felt something cold on his throat, and something poking near his left hip. Any movement he made would have consequences.

"Forfeit" was all Itachi said.

He waited for a minute, thinking of a way to get out of it, but during that minute he felt a cut on his throat, and the Kunai on his hip was slowly digging away through his clothe.

'He's serious' and for that moment Inu felt scared.

"Time! Ten minutes are up" Daru-sensei yells out.

In that call, he felt both kunai's removed from their location, and saw Itachi walking to pick up something.

'Weights?' now realizing what had made Itachi faster slowly brought him out of his fear, and more towards a realization. That's why it felt like hitting a rock every time he punched Itachi, and why suddenly Itachi had out speeded him. It was an old style for training, but an effective one at that.

"Inu, are you okay?" Neko asks him, but he makes no response as she brought him to sit in the circle, and begins to press her glowing hands to where the cut was on his throat.

He couldn't shake that feeling he felt that moment when Itachi had him at his mercy. It wasn't so much that he was being held down, but something in that minute made Itachi seem very scary, something he hadn't felt before. It was like there spar was gone, and he was scared if he was going to live at all in that minute. As if Itachi was truly going to kill him…..

'He was leaking killer intent' that was what had startled Inu. Usually, based on what he has read at the academy books, killer intent was learned through battle experience. There was no way Itachi has been in some form of fight like that, and yet…it felt like he was suffocating from it.

"Well, that fight was quite surprising. It seems like the two of you have similar fighting strategies; both of you were waiting to see what each other was going to do before fighting. I must say I'm surprised Itachi-kun; I didn't know you were training with weights" Yamato-sensei says.

"I didn't really know who was going to win that fight, or if it was going to be a stalling one; you guys stared more than fought in that spar" Daru-sensei says.

Inu wasn't really paying attention the conversation, he was looking at Itachi as if really seeing him for the first time, and it made no sense. Itachi really looks like a 7 year old, weak, calm and collected. Even during the fight, Itachi's face never changed from its emotionless look. Even his voice sounded voided of emotions.

And it made no sense, Itachi was a genin, how could he possibly act like he's been a ninja for years.

Inu looks at Sora to see if he was surprised or if he was going to gloat, but Sora looked Surprised.

"Wow, Itachi, I didn't know you trained with weights" Sora states.

"I feel that I can be faster instead of powerful the way you are Sora, so I decided when we started the academy to work with weights. It should accumulate well overtime for both my endurance and speed, and give me some strength in the process" Itachi calmly replies.

"I'll say, and yeah, I'm only fast because I have Inu to compete with, but even I can see I won't reach his speed because of my build. Still, moving with weights sounds like a good idea, maybe I should try it" Sora begins to wander off into his own thoughts.

"Okay, now that we've seen the spar, let's give our feed backs to Itachi; Neko-chan, why don't you start" Yamato-sensei asks.

Neko mulls it over, and then simply says, "There was nothing negative in his fight. Itachi-kun was calm and collected throughout the fight, and he wasn't even injured once. I don't know if this was the best match up since it looked like the two had a similar strategy towards the fight, until Inu started going more to the offensive."

Everyone was quiet for a couple of seconds, until Daru asks the same thing to Sora.

"I agree. Even though I said I think he's the strongest one of all six of us, even I was shocked by how well he handled himself. No stance off, always looked like he was calculating some form of idea during the fight, which shows his good improvising, and I was so surprised by his fire attack. When did you master the Phoenix flower jutsu Itachi?" Sora asks.

"A while ago; I figured my fire ball would only get bigger overtime with experience and when my chakra reserves increased, so I started practicing this one" Itachi replies.

"Cool, could you show me? It's time to work on something else for ninjutsu" Sora says excitedly.

"Now, now, you guys can talk about this afterwards. So the both of you are saying pretty much that Itachi gets a perfect score?" Yamato asks, looking at both Sora and Neko.

The two nods in response, and Inu felt his pride take a hit; he lost to the youngest one here, and his teammates couldn't find a single flaw. Now that he was fully healed after the spar, he got up and sprinted away from the group.

"Hey, Inu, where are you going!?" Inu heard Sora yell, but he just kept on running. He didn't want to deal with the fact that despite all of his training, it was useless because based on what Sora said, Itachi was a genius, and Inu knew that geniuses don't have it as hard as those who work there butts off.

'Why? Why did this happen?' Inu could only think in frustration as he ran further away.

* * *

And there we have it, the pride has been hurt, and Itachi probably knows it.

It will be back in his perspective next chapter.

Hope you guys liked it.

Cheers


	19. Chapter 19

Hey everyone

So this chapter is sort of a filler, but things get revealed at the same time

Were back to Itachi's POV for the time being

Enjoy

I don't Own Naruto

* * *

Chapter 19

I watch as Inu, Sora's teammate, runs away from the group. I honestly didn't think about how the boy was going to react after our spar.

I had been surprised by Sora's voice of confidence in me since I felt that I didn't show any true extraordinary skills whenever Me and Sora use to hang out with the Uchiha group before becoming genin; I didn't think those spars with each other had counted.

My reasons for winning those spars had been because I felt it was the only way for those boys to lose some of the arrogance that our clan grows up with. Sora had been the first one to change, and become more humble, while the other three had slowly realized that being an Uchihia wasn't enough.

It was that strategy I used against Inu since it had been working so well with the others. Originally, I was going to tie his match since I didn't want to look exceptional of any kind, but after Inu's outburst, it told me that he had a bit of arrogance. It didn't help when Sora stated his voice of confidence in me, and that made the final decision on what strategy to use in the match.

I made sure to extend the match with Inu as long as possible, until the last minute. That's when I decided to end the spar. I had hoped it would show that I was overestimated by Sora's proclamation of me, and it would beat a bit of that arrogance out of the Inu boy.

Although I didn't know much about Sora's team, I know that arrogance can get comrades killed, and for reasons I hadn't known before, Sora has become a friend that I feel I can trust in the same way I trust Shisui.

I had been debating, after a month coming back from the past, on letting Sora join me and Shisui on the plan we devised that relates to getting the clan more involved with the village, but we had agreed to first wait until Sora becomes a chunin.

Once the spar between me and Inu had finished, I had been surprised when no one had any negative feedback, and just stated that I had been perfect in the spar. That had seemed to be the final step towards Inu losing it.

"Hey, Inu, where are you going?!" Sora yells out.

"Daru-sensei, it seems one of your students have taken off before concluding today's overall performances" Yamato-sensei says.

"Don't worry; I think I have an idea of where he's going and what he is thinking. I'll go after him, see what to do, and inform him of the rest of the meeting. Sora, Neko, once Yamato dismiss the meeting, you are free to leave. Until then" Daru-sensei makes a hand sign, and shushins away.

"We really need to ask him how he does that" Sora mutters.

"Can't you just use your eyes to copy the technique?" Takeru asks.

"I would never do that with a comrade; it's disrespectful!" Sora retorts. I didn't know that Sora felt so strongly about using the Sharingan like that; my respect for him went higher.

"He's right Takeru-kun; while he may indeed be able to copy the technique, it's kind of disrespectful if it's towards to someone you trust. He still can without really getting any consequences, but would you like it if he copied a technique from you without your knowledge?" Yamato-sensei asks.

"No I wouldn't, okay I see what you mean Sora-san" Takeru says, looking away.

"Don't worry; you're not the first person to ask me that. Anyways, what else is there to discuss about Sensei?" Sora asks.

"Well, apart from getting some opinions for my genins, both I and Daru were thinking of doing a joint mission together. We first wanted to see the levels of the spar before making that decision. After the last spar, we decided that a joint mission is a good idea. The pay will be more split than usual due to two teams taking it, but I can guarantee that the experience should boost your willingness to continue to train and improve in your skills" Yamato-sensei says.

"What about Inu sensei?" Neko asks.

"That's why Daru went after him. Apart from whatever is troubling Inu-kun, Daru will fill him in on what we're discussing right now. How would you guys feel about doing a B-rank mission? We won't be doing this on a regular occasion, but we feel a low B-rank should be effective since you guys have done four or five C-ranks already without any issues" Yamato-sensei says.

"Yes, I'm in!" Sora immediately answers.

"I think it's a good idea, and if both you and Daru-sensei are with us, then we'll be fine in case something happens" Neko says.

"I'm all for it" Takeru says.

"So am I" Hikari says.

I didn't say anything, which got everyone to look at me. I didn't expect to do more than C-rank missions for a few years before becoming chunin. It wasn't unheard of, but it makes things a bit unpredictable.

"Okay" I say. I hope that it won't require me to reveal my sharingan for the mission; I am hoping to keep it hidden for a long time.

"Alright then, your all dismissed. Make sure you're at the hokage tower for 9 am. We will go together to pick up the mission" Yamato-sensei says. After that, he makes a hand seal, and shushins away.

"Show-off" Sora mutters.

"It really is a shame though; I had wanted all of us to go out to eat, but since Inu-san left, it doesn't seem like it's going to happen" Takeru says.

"How about after we complete the mission, we can all go together; by then hopefully whatever is bothering Inu will be sorted out" Sora says.

By looking at Sora, I knew that he understood exactly what was bothering Inu. Since they're in a team together, it only made sense that Sora would know.

"Well let's go home them. It was fun meeting you three. We'll see you tomorrow. Sora, come with me" Neko says, dragging Sora by the arm.

"Oi, Neko-chan, I'll come you don't need to pull" Sora complains until there out of sight.

Once they were out of sight, Takeru turns to speak to Itachi, "wow Itachi-kun. I didn't expect that kind of match."

"I think I was just lucky that me and Inu have a similar strategy. He may have beaten me if the fight had continued after ten minutes since he did not yield when I had asked him to" I say. I know it isn't the truth, but I still am trying to cover my skills as much as I can.

"I doubt it. When you placed the kunai near his throat, I felt your chakra shift. It felt slightly darker, more vicious, than your usual chakra. It seemed to scare Inu-san a bit" Takeru says.

"You can sense a shift in the chakra as well?" I ask, slightly surprised. I know that Takeru can sense chakra, but didn't know that he could read it to that level; fortunately, it seems that Takeru doesn't know what killer intent is.

"Yeah, that was the first time I've ever felt someone's chakra do that" Takeru says.

I nod, but do not speak, glad for the moment that Takeru hasn't reached that level.

"Well, let's head home; tomorrow is going to be something different, and I'm both excited and nervous on what it is. Bye you two" and with that, Hikari begins to leave.

"Hey, wait up Hikari. Bye Itachi-kun, see you tomorrow" Takeru says, following after Hikari.

I begin to walk towards my home, my mind full of thoughts.

A B-rank mission and it's only been four months since I became a genin. I haven't used my sharingan in front of others, but I've never done a mission without the use of my eyes with it being B-rank or higher. I'm not sure if I can hide it for much longer, but what Yamato-sensei said is true; it would give them experience and motivation for the team to improve, especially, since some were showing a bit of irritation to the regular routine.

If this mission was just going to be one of those once in a blue moon missions, then I think I better be prepared and not let my guard down.

* * *

"Kaa-san, tou-san, I'm home" I announce, removing my shoes and leaving them at the side of the wall.

"Nii" I hear then feel Sasuke tackle into me.

"Hi Sasuke, did you had fun today?" Itachi says, poking him in the stomach. This just makes Sasuke giggle.

"Well, it's safe to say the little guy knows how to run" I look up to see Shisui walking towards me.

"Shisui" I say, nodding to him.

"Jeez, formal as always; just wait for a bit, your parents are having an argument of sorts" Shisui says, motioning me to follow him.

Once I'm near the doors that would lead to the backyard, I start to hear the sounds of raised voices.

"It's too soon to be deciding that, he's only 7 years old Fugaku."

"He's been proving to me over and over how skillful he is despite his age. I truly believe when the time comes, he'll be the one to lead the clan."

"What if he doesn't want to?"

"He needs to; can't you see that he's slipping from us?"

"He isn't slipping away from us."

"He invited others to the Uchiha district from the village."

"That's because they are his friends. It isn't the village that's the problem Fugaku, it's the higher heads. The village itself sees us as one of them, or don't you remember months ago when we went out as a group to that barbecue restaurant."

First with Sora, now with them; I guess I really haven't been as careful with my abilities as I thought I was; Tou-san was always a bit more perspective with it came to these things. Already he was thinking about me taking over the clan, but it may have been also because I was showing more involvement in the village than tou-san would like.

Kaa-san on the other hand seemed to understand who was really holding the clan back, and held no grudge towards the village itself.

I now need to figure out a different way to get tou-san to see the big picture, but more than that, I have no desire to take over the clan; if it's going to be anyone, than it will be Sasuke.

"Looks like there argument's over, better look like we weren't listening" Shisui voice breaks me out of my thoughts, and I go to sit on one of the seats on the table, pretending to be playing with Sasuke.

"Oh, Itachi-chan, when did you get home?" Mikoto asks.

"About half an hour or so Kaa-san; Shisui said you and tou-san were talking outside so I took the liberty to play with Sasuke" I say, letting a smile show for her.

"Nothing to worry about then; now that you're here, let's have some dinner shall we?" says Fugaku.

Once the table is set up and dinner is served, everyone begins to eat. Shisui let's a light conversation go with Mikoto while Mikoto feeds Sasuke the softer food on the table.

After dinner is finished, and Mikoto brings out some fruit to eat, which causes tou-san to address me, "So Itachi, how's your genin team going so far; learn anything new?"

I know that tou-san is looking for some disappointment so he can bring his own share of news, but I have figured out a way on how I was going to play the conversation, "actually, today we sparred with Sora's team today; our sensei wanted a second opinion with what we needed to improve on, so we did a one on one spar with team 6."

"Did you end up facing Sora?" Shisui asks.

"No, I ended up facing his teammate, the rookie of the year; he's really fast. If it wasn't for the fact that we only had ten minutes max to spar, I think I would have lost to him" I know that Shisui won't buy it, but it was more for tou-sans benefit that I lie about how the match went.

"Did you get hurt Itachi-chan?" Mikoto asks.

"Just a little bruising from where I got hit. Hikari was able to heal me though; she's improved a lot in the Medical ninjutsu" I answer her.

Fugaku frowns at this, and just simply says, "You need more training than, perhaps when I have time we can do a one-on-one spar."

"Well, they said I need to increase my strength, and since Inu, Sora's teammate's name, was fast, I should work on that as well. But, were to do a joint B-rank mission tomorrow so I don't know how long it's going to be" It say.

"Isn't it a bit too soon to get a mission like that?" Mikoto says.

"It's only going to be this one time so we can get the experience, and see what being on the field will be like. Our sensei's will be with us so we'll be fine" I just calmly say.

Tou-san seemed like he wanted to say something, but the hard look I see Kaa-san sends him stops him.

I was fairly certain it was about the taking over the clan, and for the moment I was grateful for Kaa-san's Interference at stopping him since now wasn't the time for that confrontation.

* * *

After dinner, Shisui had asked if he and I go for a walk. When no objections were stated, Ii followed Shisui out the door, and far into the training area in the back yard.

"Shisui, what is you wish to talk about?" I ask.

Shisui pauses and sit's underneath a tree. He motions for me to join him.

Looking at the house, he returns his gaze back to me "Now that were not near your parents anymore, tell me what really happened today with the spar."

* * *

And there we are, Well next chapter will go on with the mission, but what do you think of the fight happening?

Reviews please?

Cheers guys


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